


Time Traveller's Keeper

by InChemistryWeTrust



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Time Travel, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2018-08-22 22:25:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 53,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8303434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InChemistryWeTrust/pseuds/InChemistryWeTrust
Summary: A tale about a Time Traveler and a Vampire.





	1. Chapter 1

**"It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening."**

**-H.G. Wells**

* * *

 

.

The first time she made a jump, she was 8 years old.  
  
At that time, she had done brush her teeth and put her pajama on. Her parents were downstairs and since she had been 7, they had stopped tucking her in before bed.  
  
It didn't bother her. She was a big girl now. Or that was what she had been telling herself.  
  
She threw off the cover of her bed and was about to jump in when she felt a tug pulling her body backward. The tug became a harsh jerk in next second that made her lose her balance and fell on her back.  
  
She thought she was falling, she barely closed her eyes to prepare for the pain.  
  
But she wasn't actually falling. It was the weirdest feeling.  
  
Then she opened her eyes.  
  
Her bed had disappeared. Her bed and her precious teddy bear on it had too, disappeared.  
  
She even wasn't in her room anymore. The place she was standing was way bigger than her bedroom. It was bigger and filled with people. Big people, adults.  
  
She felt like she was going to be sick.  
  
The big people were all dressed up. At least that what she was thinking since it was her first time to see women wore funny dresses like in old movies her mother really loved to watch. Funny gowns, funny hats with bird feathers.  
  
She smiled upon the sight.  
  
The men dressed in suit, like her dad's attire every morning he wore to go to work. The difference was their suit had split on the back that made it look like two tails.  
  
The room had unfamiliar scent in it. She scrunched her nose. Too sweet, too much flowery, and it made her very dizzy.  
  
And now those big women and men were all looking at her direction.  
  
She knew she was in trouble. From the look of it, she was in the middle of adults party, and she was a child. A child could never participate in adults activity.  
  
She had to run.  
  
She frantically searched for an exit door. She wanted to go home, she wanted her bed, she wanted her teddy.  
  
She wanted her mom.  
  
Then, the moment she turned and ready to bolt out with tears in her eyes, a pair of cold hands grabbed her waist and lifted her up.  
  
"I finally found you, my angel." A feminine voice whispered softly in her ear.  
  
She looked to the one who had caught her. Were they going to be punishing her since she had been sneaking in to the adult's party?  
  
However, the moment she saw the person, she felt strangely safe.  
  
A woman, very beautiful one, more beautiful than those she had watched in TV, was looking softly to her. A gentle smile and genuine happiness reflected in the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She loved blue, and she decided that the pair of blue would be her new favorite.  
  
The woman who she guessed possibly a bit younger than her mother set her down while kneeling in front of her.  
  
"Who are you...?" She was too curious to not ask.  
  
"You can call me Elsa, my dear." The woman brushed a lock of her hair from her face. She felt immediately a need to brush her hair since the woman in front of her had very nice yellow-almost white colored hair.  
  
"Elsa..." She tried the name with her lips. "Elsa..."  
  
The woman, Elsa's smile turned into beam. She felt her heart jumped and suddenly her face felt hot.  
  
"You are truly adorable, Anna." She said with her hands still clasping gently on her arm.  
  
Elsa already knew her name. "How do you know my name?"  
  
"You told me a long time ago." Elsa answered with playful smile. "Let's go. The show is about to start." Elsa rose from her position and led her to one of the big doors. Now Anna knew that those she had thought as walls, were actually a pair of high double doors.  
  
"What show?" She noticed the other adults were walking to the same direction.  
  
"You'll see," Instead of heading to the row of seats in front of them, Elsa led her to the stairs. They climbed until one of a young guy in suit gestured her to enter a room with VIP written on its door.  
  
She read a lot and knew that they were in VIP box which reserved for only certain people with high privilege.  
  
"Elsa..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why those big women are wearing funny looking dresses?" Anna pointed to women who sat on other VIP boxes.  
  
Elsa waited until Anna had comfortably sat while responding, "Do you think what I am wearing is funny?"  
  
Anna saw Elsa's dress, a light blue night gown that somehow seemed like those models were wearing in, she believed as 'runway'. Anna liked Elsa's dress. It wasn't funny.  
  
"No, you are beautiful. No matter what you're wearing" She said honestly with a slight shrug.  
  
Elsa looked startled for a moment as she shifted on her seat. "I'm sorry. It's been a while. I almost forgot how a teaser you are."  
  
Anna pouted, "I am not a teaser! It's true! You are beautifuller! I meant, not fuller. It's not the right word. Beautiful as in very very nice!" Through the struggle to gather her vocabulary she heard Elsa was chuckling. Her voice was like nice melody in her ear that seemed unbelievable.  
  
Anna by no meant a stupid child. She had read a lot, more than children in her age in general. Vocabulary was not her problem. However, tonight Anna had no idea why she had experienced difficulties in forming words with Elsa.  
  
"Yes, my adroable one." Elsa lowered her head and gave a brief kiss on Anna's forehead.  
  
That rendered an 8 years old Anna speechless.  
  
"Now, the show is starting."  
  
"You haven't told me what show." Anna grumbled in her breath.  
  
"Now now, do not pout, my angel. Even though you are really cute when you are doing it."  
  
Anna huffed.  
  
"Its title is Flying Dutchmann."  
  
Anna had heard about it before. It was in one of the cartoon she liked.  
  
"Flying Dutchmann like in Spongebob?"  
  
Elsa blinked, "In... what?"  
  
"You know. Spongebob. The sponge from bikini bottom. His best friend is Patrick and grumpy neighbor squidward..." Anna explained. She realized that she was wearing her Spongebob pajama and decided to show Elsa instead.  
  
"Here, my pajama is Spongebob. The yellow square one." Anna pointed the picture on her shirt.  
  
Elsa still looked puzzled but then when she was observing the picture on Anna's clothes she laughed.  
  
"Ah... I am afraid we will have no Spongebob here until at least a while."  
  
"What? Why? Don't you guys watch TV? It's all around the world."  
  
Elsa calmly replied, "my dear. Here is the time when things you tell me about have not existed yet. Also, as far as I love to hear about your time, you shouldn't tell me or anybody else... Keep them as your secret."  
  
Anna now was confused. She didn't understand. "You said that they have not existed yet? Spongebob, TV?"  
  
Elsa nodded, "Yes dear, because here, now, is August 1843."  
  
,  
  
Anna by no means a stupid child. She had read a lot of books and watch plenty movies. Her father had vast collection of books and her mother was a scientist, working in a well-known university in the country.  
  
That was also the reason that she somehow knew that Elsa was telling the truth. Even though that, she was still shocked.  
  
"... But I was born in 1995." Anna finally managed to speak after few minutes of silence.  
  
"Yes, my dear. You are going back in time. By now you surely have read about time traveler's stories, yes?"  
  
Anna nodded.  
  
"That's what you are, my angel." Elsa's hand caressed her cheek gently. Her bluest eyes reflecting love like her mother always did when she was a child and able to do something to make her proud.  
  
"You are a time traveler."  


* * *

* * *

 

After the show was over, Elsa put on a light blue coat around her. It fit perfectly on her, made her thinking that Elsa had prepared these things especially for her.  
  
"Now, what place do you want to visit in 19th century?" Elsa asked, brushing Anna's hair with her hand. In past hour, Anna assumed that Elsa really liked her hair. Elsa would touch it, either brushing it with her fingers, patting her head, or simply brushing away some red locks off her face.  
  
"I-I don't know." Anna wanted to go home. She missed her parents and her bed. "I want to go home..."  
  
At once she was enveloped with a hug. Anna felt safe suddenly. Elsa's scent reminded her of chocolate and other sweet scent that felt like home.  
  
"My sweet sweet Anna... I'm sorry. You will be home soon." Elsa released her hug which Anna had already missed. "You will be back to your own time, do not worry. in the meanwhile, I want you at least enjoy my company here."  
  
Anna frowned but then nodded weakly.  
  
Elsa gave her that look again. A look of admiration and love... as far as Anna knew, only her parents would look her like that... but still it felt different when Elsa did it.  
  
"In this time of year... have they invented chocolate yet?" Anna asked.  
  
Elsa laughed lightly. Her voice had become Anna's favorite melody too. "Yes they have, dear. Of course you will hunt for chocolate no matter what time you are,"  
  
Then Elsa led them outside the building. Anna's eyes widened. It was her first time to directly witness outside world in 19th century. The streets are mostly cobblestones, while there were no cars, there were carriages with huge horses. The streets were dimly lit and Anna guessed that in this time of year, they haven't invented lamp bulb yet.  
  
One of the carriages stopped in front of them. The coachman opened the door for them hastily. "Good evening, Lady Elsa."  
  
Elsa gave him a nod and helped Anna climbed the carriage first before she followed in and settled beside her.  
  
"Are you cold?" Anna asked. She realized how cold Elsa's hands were.  
  
Elsa shook her head, a flash of sorrow in her eyes. "No, Anna. The cold never bothered me... It's just the way I am..."  
  
Anna snuggled closer to Elsa, "I like it." she mumbled softly.  
  
Then they enjoyed silence that fell between them. Anna heard Elsa was humming a certain tune. Anna wondered if that was special tune in this century.  
  
Anna felt her eyes drooping by time went on. It had past her bed time.  
  
"Sleep, my angel." Elsa spoke quietly.  
  
"Will you be here?"  
  
"... My dear, here and now, past, and the future... wherever, whenever... I will be with you. I'll always find you."  
  
With that Anna let the sleep claimed her.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
The moment she opened her eyes, she was back in her bedroom, suddenly missing the coldness and scent of chocolates from her dream.  
.  
Even after a year later, Anna still remembered everything about Elsa. Anna knew that Elsa hadn't been a dream. A light blue coat that Elsa had given her was still hung in the deepest corner of her wardrobe. She had observed her mother and noticed that she would always open a left side of her cupboard, not the right one. So, right side, deep further back, her light blue coat had been serving as a reminder.  
  
After her meeting with Elsa, Anna's life had never been the same. She would go to school, doing her homework, and go to bed. However, she had spent more time daydreaming in the class. Even her parents and teachers concerned for her. Anna didn't understand her worry though, she was still in top of her class and performed her usual activities at home.  
  
Her mom said that she had been distant. While her father commented one night about how Anna needed to go out more, perhaps doing some sport.  
  
Then one Sunday, when Anna was reading her favorite book, her mother came into her room. She peeked up briefly, wondering why her mom would enter without knocking.  
  
"Anna. It's Sunday and the weather is very nice outside. Why don't you go outside and play with your friends, dear?"  
  
Anna eyed her mother carefully. Her mother, Cassandra Summers had been looking tired lately, yesterday Anna had spotted some white hairs among her mother's red locks. Her mom wasn't even 30 yet.  
  
"… I'd rather finish this book first." Anna excused herself. She had actually finished reading the book in her hand for the third time this week.  
  
"You're always holed up in your room when holiday comes. 2 years ago, usually you would go out to play with your best friend… Carter wasn't it? The sweet boy that lives 2 blocks from here."  
  
Anna snorted. Sure, the boy had been sweet but that was 2 years ago. Now, he was a bully.  
  
"No." Anna shook her head.  
  
Her mom sighed. "You know, dad is going to install a DSL for our home…"  
  
With that, Anna's eyes twinkled. She beamed at her mother. "Really?! We will have internet?! That's fantastic!" Anna jumped on her bed and began to dance around.  
  
"That, young lady… will not happen if you're not spending time outside too. You know that your dad is worrying about you being anti-social."  
  
Anna tilted her head. "I'm not anti-social. It's just… my friends are all stupid like all the time!"  
  
Her mom smiled, "That's my dear… it's because you are too… advanced for kids in your age. You got that from me." She said proudly, gesturing on her own head. "The brain."  
  
Anna pouted, crossing her arms on her chest. "So… if I go out today… hypothetically, we will have internet tomorrow?"  
  
"Hypothetically, if you go out to play with your friends today and every next holidays… we will have internet next week."  
  
Anna narrowed her eyes, "You drive a hard bargain, mom."  
  
"And you are a tough negotiator, sweetheart." Her mom chided playfully.  
  
The red-head girl lifted both her arms in defeat. "Fine. I will go out today. I hate to look at you stressed out anyway. I will play outside if that makes you less sad."  
  
Her mom seemed taken aback by her words at first but then she smiled softly. A smile that Anna had been missed lately. A smiled that Anna used to see everytime her mother was proud of her.  
  
"Alright then."  
  
After her mom left her room, Anna gathered her sketch book, a sunscreen, a cap, and a mineral water. Going to play outside felt like a mission impossible when she had obviously preferred to read or doodled away inside her room.  
  
On the way she passed through the kitchen, Anna caught her mother making a call to DSL provider to install for their house tomorrow.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Nice weather outside meant that super hot air blowing to all directions. Anna hated hot air. It made her all sweaty and her skin burned.  
  
Deciding to sit away for the day, she walked to the nearest playground in the neighborhood. It was Sunday, the playground was full of toddlers running around, mothers pushing baby strollers, also father and sons, and dogs playing Frisbee.  
  
The playground was crowded but not noisy. Anna could deal with that.  
  
She took out her sketch book and sat on the only empty bench left. The bench faced directly across the sand dune where some toddlers were building a sand castle and other shapes that Anna had guessed best as donuts. A lot of donuts.  
  
For the next an hour and half, Anna was busy with her pencil. She would doodle aimlessly. Since she never knew what she was drawing, she let her hands made any shapes randomly.  
  
While her hands drawing away and her mind in thousand miles thinking, suddenly, Anna's sketchbook was yanked away from her lap.  
  
"… this is rather nice drawing, Summers." A boy's voice that she had been very familiarized with interrupted.  
  
Carter.  
  
"Give it back, Carter." Anna tried to ask nicely. Afterall she didn't want her time playing outside ended badly. Her mother would cancel the DSL and Anna would never let that going down. There were unlimited sources of information in the internet. Anna could use that to learn more about what had occurred to her a year ago. The books in her school did not have what she wanted, and her dad's collection was placed in the highest shelf. She could've asked her father for help, but he would be asking why she would be needed the entire series of encyclopedia in relativity.  
  
"I will give it back if you play with us." Carter said, looking down at her. Anna spotted three boys that were standing few steps behind Carter, boys that Anna hated since they like to make girls cry in school.  
  
"What are you? 5? I do not like your games anyway. You always shove me away and mock me whenever you are with your friends."  
  
"We will play tag. You run fast, the fastest in school right?" Carter grinned.  
  
"So what?" Anna didn't like where it was going.  
  
"There are four of us. If you can outrun four of us in 10 minutes and finish untouched… you win."  
  
Anna wanted to yell 'NO' at his face but she held back in.  
  
"It's really complicated…" Anna was thinking hard to find a way without having her to obey his poor excuse of game. "Why do I have to listen to you?" Anna stepped closer to Carter that now he and her sketchbook was only a reach away.  
  
"I have your book." He reasoned.  
  
With a strong push, Anna shoved Carter's big body while she wrenched her sketchbook from his hand. Carter fell on his ass, and she had managed to get her book back.  
  
"Or I can do this."  
  
Then Anna ran.  
  
She ran and ran, faster than she ever had.  
  
She ran without recognizing how the scenery had slowly changed around her. The suburb neighborhood now had changed into an industrial complex and some old brownstones, while the asphalt had turned into a paved path, the cars and bikes that were parked on side of the street were gone and replaced by carriages, and carts.  
  
Her mind was too busy to get away from Carter and his goons that she hadn't been paying attention when she took a turn in the last alley path.  
  
She collided with something hard, that it felt like she had crashed a wall.  
  
Anna fell, landed ungracefully on her butt, while her things were scattered around her.  
  
"Oh my… Are you alright?"  
  
Anna startled. She didn't even feel the pain while she was aware that her butt had met the ground harshly, she didn't feel anything the moment she heard the voice. Her voice. Anna's mind was running while her eyes hesitatingly were looking up to the source of the voice.  
  
There, the face she had sorely been missing in this past year. There, the woman with the bluest eyes and the gentlest smile, was standing. Few feet before her, exactly as she remembered.  
  
Gorgeous.  
  
"Elsa." Anna breathed.  
  
Elsa by now had knelled in front of her with a concern look. "Are you alright, Anna? I am really sorry, I was too preoccupied looking for you. Of course you would turn up from the most unexpected turn… it's always only you that able to surprise me." Elsa offered her hand to Anna to help her stand.  
  
Anna accepted as Elsa effortlessly lifted her up. "Are you really alright?" Elsa asked again, this time her hands were traveling on every inch of Anna's body, checking for injuries.  
  
"Yeah." Anna shrugged lightly, again, her face felt hot.  
  
After seemingly satisfied not finding any injuries, Elsa inspected the redheaded girl from head to toe. "Let me guess… you are 10 years old?"  
  
Anna huffed, "I wish! I am 9." How she wished she was taller to get to see Elsa's pair of blues better.  
  
"Aw, you are really cute, Anna." Then Anna found herself again being embraced in a cold hug. It only came to her now that it wasn't only Elsa's hand that cold. Anna didn't really mind since the hug was nice compared to the hot weather surrounded them both.  
  
"I'm not cute. I'm a big girl." Anna said lowly as Elsa's ears were right on her lips.  
  
"Alright. As you wish, my angel." Elsa released her hug and then gathered Anna's scattered things from the ground.  
  
"You look out-of-breathe…" Elsa commented. She handed Anna's sketchbook and her small backpack.  
  
"Bullies." Anna murmured, getting annoyed by only recalling the previous event. She had no time to deal with neighborhood bullies anyway.  
  
"Where and when are we?" Anna looked around her. The scenery didn't have any much difference than the last time she had met Elsa.  
  
"Corona, 1900. Before you ask, they have some interesting candies shop around here." Elsa answered and took Anna's hand with her. "Do you want to go there?"  
  
"Uhm… sure." Anna suddenly felt insecure. Her appearance didn't really mix well with the environment. She observed how the women all wore big dresses with long skirts while she was in her modern clothes with her black jeans and white t-shirt. If she had known she was going to 1900, she would've packed for at least things that would not attract attention.  
  
As if she could read her mind, Elsa lightly squeezed Anna's hand. "It is alright, my dear. You look like a boy in this time." Elsa said reassuringly. "A very beautiful boy."  
  
Anna blushed. "I'm not a boy." And will never be. She thought that boys were disgusting and stupid. At least all boys that she knew were all noisy and rude.  
  
"My apologies. You are a big girl." Elsa chuckled as she led both of them to venture the street of Corona in 1900.  
  
In next few hours, Anna had toffee apple in her hand and several candies in her pocket. She had eaten her chocolates inside the candy shop. It wondered her why the past was more entertaining than her current home.  
  
"My… I've spoiled you too much, haven't I?" Elsa bit her lip, staring at Anna's mouth that had been busy chewing various kinds of sweets.  
  
Anna grinned, "Not really. Spoil me more."  
  
"Be careful, young lady… You may hurt your teeth if you eat sweets too much."  
  
"Why don't you eat too? You have chocolate smell on you though…" Anna licked her apple before she took a bite.  
  
"Do I? You must really love chocolate if you smell that on me…" Elsa mused while gracefully led Anna moving among the sea of people.  
  
"Yes. You have the best smell around here. This century and place is kinda reek… uhm." Anna scrunched her nose. Anna had witnessed how the people in this time would throw away their trashes and waste carelessly. She had caught once how people in upper floor of a building just dumped which Anna didn't want to know what, onto the street. The redhead shivered upon the thought.  
  
"Here is where I live." They stopped in front of the nicest looking brownstone in the city.  
  
"This is your home?"  
  
"Temporarily. My home is wherever you are, sweetheart." Elsa said casually. Her words had caught Anna off of guard as she stumbled upon the stairs suddenly. Elsa caught her before she kissed the bricks.  
  
"Careful there. It is alright, don't worry… the place is clean." Elsa fished out keys from her dress and opened the door.  
  
By clean, Elsa had meant as spotless. Even hospital was nothing like this place.  
  
"Let's wash your hands and brush your teeth first." Anna followed Elsa to one of the bathroom downstairs. Elsa gave Anna a new smaller toothbrush after Anna finished washing her hands and her face.  
  
That moment, Anna spotted two toothbrushes on the sink. One was blue while the other was red.  
  
"Whose toothbrush is that?" Anna unconsciously asked out loud. It meant Elsa was living with someone else in this place.  
  
"The red one is yours." Elsa replied. She was brushing Anna's hair and now braided them like it was the most fun activity in the world.  
  
"But… this is mine." Anna gestured to the smaller toothbrush in her hand.  
  
Elsa smiled, her eyes twinkled. "I meant the older you."  
  
Anna was confused but didn't ask for more questions.  
  
"When I was 8, I met you and we watched an opera… Flying Dutchmann." Anna said. They were in the living room. Anna was reading Elsa's book, the first print of Hamlet that Anna had never had a chance to read before. Romance wasn't really Anna's favorite since her parents had said those types of books were for adults. Elsa gave it for Anna to read anyway.  
  
"Yes." Elsa nodded. Her gaze was on Anna while her both hands were knitting what Anna had guessed as muffler for winter.  
  
"That was year 1843… but here… you said it's 1900." Anna's voice trailed off.  
  
Elsa didn't react as if giving Anna more time to ponder.  
  
"How come you are not a grandma already?" The redheaded girl finally asked.  
  
Elsa laughed from the phrase of Anna's question.  
  
"Do you want me to be a grandma, Anna?" There Elsa did it again. Anna had been counting how often Elsa would answer her question with another question.  
  
"… I don't know. I mean… you are beautiful. I think you will still be even if you are… old" Anna tried to imagine Elsa with wrinkle face, gray hair, and frowns… yup, Elsa would've been still beautiful.  
  
"That's so sweet of you, Anna." Elsa smiled Anna's favorite smile. "I think you have been showing great potential to be a hopeless flirt since very young age, young lady. Not that I haven't seen those potential bloom successfully." Elsa set aside her knitting threads.  
  
"You are right that I should've been aged since our first encounter. Most women would've been a very old lady. However… I am not most women. In fact, I'm not like most human…"  
  
Anna's frown deepened. She didn't like this feeling. She couldn't understand Elsa's words. It was like when she encountered with a very difficult math problem that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure it out.  
  
Elsa, being the one that understand how confused Anna had been, finally decided to explain it in a simple way.  
  
"I am not human."  
  
Anna's jaw dropped. Well… She should've known. Elsa was too beautiful anyway.  
  
"Are you an angel?" Anna tilted her head slightly.  
  
Elsa blinked, but then laughed heartily. "No, sweetheart. You are the angel. Not me."  
  
Anna winced. "I'm not an angel. I am… just Anna." Anna couldn't come up with any better self-description.  
  
Elsa nodded, still smiling to her. "You are right. You are a lot better than any angel." Elsa winked.  
  
Anna sank into her seat, fighting the heat on her face. Who is the teaser now?  
  
"Anyway… what I have been saying is, I am not human, nor an angel." Elsa continued.  
  
"Who are you then?"  
  
"Not who… it's what. What am I…" Elsa seemed to think for a few moments before her pair of blues came back to focus on Anna again.  
  
"I am a vampire."

* * *

* * *

 

 

**  
.  
**


	2. Jump 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Ask for a swimming lesson today' the letter said.
> 
> Anna knew that the letter hadn't been from her parents since the handwriting was messy and there were doodles on the side of the paper.
> 
> Anna froze.
> 
> Doodles that she had been awfully familiar with.
> 
> The girl shoved the letter to the deepest compartment in her drawer. Her heart was beating too fast for her liking and sweat was started forming on her forehead.
> 
> The doodles were obviously drawn by her. The messy letter was written by her. For her.

**"The past is never where you think you left it."**   
**― Katherine Anne Porter**

* * *

That time, Anna learned a lot about the supernatural world and its creatures. Apparently the fantasy books Anna loved to read wasn't completely fantasy at all. At one point, Anna had asked about dragons and unicorns, which Elsa explained that there are remain a popular myth. However, fairies, nymphs, and mermaids were not completely imagination. They were exist, only with different concepts from human had conjured.

 

Elsa then went into detail about her kind. Anna learned that Elsa was almost millennium old (the red-headed girl quipped that Elsa would be old enough to be a great-great-great-great-great Grandmother, Elsa only laughed with a twinkle in her bluest eyes). Vampires, despite common belief, didn't turn into a bat and sleep upside down, in fact, they didn't require any sleep (again, Anna commented about a lot of books she could've finished if she didn't need sleep).

 

The cold was a tell-tale sign of vampires in the surface. That, and also the inhuman beauty and smell.

 

"Vampires are the ultimate predators. We are designed to lure our prey in with our external appearance. That's the reason you smell chocolate from me, because it is what you like the most." Elsa smiled while recalling how much sweets Anna had swallowed for the day.

 

Anna hopped off from her seat, "what prey?" Her eyes were searching on Elsa. "In Dracula movies, they are eating human by drinking blood."

 

Elsa fidgeted, "What is movies?" hoping she could redirect Anna's question and had more time to think about an answer.

 

Anna frowned, "It's thing you watch on tv." The girl bit her bottom lip, "like stories but with moving pictures on a screen." Anna gestured animatedly with her hands. "So, you are not Dracula, right? Because he sleeps in a coffin and you don't sleep!"

 

Hearing Anna's question, Elsa's face turned sad. She was shifting on her seat, avoiding Anna's gaze. "Sadly, from all the misconceptions human had about my kind, they get only one aspect right."

 

Elsa finally braved herself to look at Anna's curious eyes. "We do drink human's blood."

 

If Anna was surprised, the girl didn't show it. "Does it taste good?"

 

The blond vampire was dumbfounded, she had expected a freak out 10 years old girl upon giving the explanation. Anna had taken all of Elsa's explanation too well that made her a bit worried.

 

One thing at a time, Elsa sighed. "Yes, Anna. It is good. Even the blood of certain human tasted better than others…"

 

Like yours.

 

But Elsa kept quiet about it. Anna didn't need to know that her blood held the sweetest scent Elsa ever experienced in the past millennium.

 

Anna approached Elsa without any hesitation. The girl reached for Elsa's hand and squeezed it with her smaller ones.

 

"I like your cold." Anna said with a big grin.

 

And then, despite the coldness of her skin and her unbeating heart, Elsa had melted upon Anna's words.

 

.

 

It was dawn when Anna was pulled back from the past and thrown to her current time line.

 

She was standing on the porch of her home with candies and chocolates still tucked in safely inside her pocket.

 

The door opened before Anna could reach the handle, revealing a disheveled look of Cassandra-her mom holding a cell phone with one hand and trail of tears on her cheek.

 

Anna was about to ask why her mother is crying. She had agreed to play outside for the day so that her mother would be less stressed and then the internet would be installed earlier.

 

However her mom had already enveloped her into a hug and murmured about how glad she is that now Anna is home. Anna didn't fight when her mother suddenly fussed over her, checking the redhead girl from head to toe.

 

"Are you alright?" The seriousness in her mother's face and voice had startled her. Her mother looked really worried.

 

"I'm okay." Anna confirmed with a slight nod.

 

Anna wondered about how long she had been gone this time. She noticed that it was already night. She didn't understand why her mother had reacted this much. She had only been out for a day.

 

Her father appeared behind her mother, hovering around both his wife and daughter. The stress was evident and Anna observed that her father looked much older when he was stressed.

 

"Where have you been, Anna?" He asked in both exhaustion and relief.

 

"None of it, Dave." Her mother hushed. Still hugging Anna, Cassandra lifted her daughter and carried her.

 

Anna pouted. "Mom, I can walk." The girl hated it when people treated her like a baby.

 

Her mother smiled slightly, ignoring her daughter's pouting, "Eat, shower, and then you and us will have a talk."

 

Now Anna officially felt she was in trouble. They only have a talk in living room when she had done a huge mistake. "But why? I was only out for a day!"

 

Her mother and her father exchanged look with each other. They then moved their gaze to their only daughter as if Anna had blurted out strangest thing to say.

 

"Honey, sweetheart. You have been gone for three days."

 

She was indeed in a huge trouble.

 

.

 

After uneventful dinner, her mother insisted to bathe her. Anna had been proud to be able to shower by herself since she was 7, her parents also had stopped to put the rubber duck beside the tube as Anna had claimed that she was now a big girl and didn't need the duck to accompany her bath anymore. So, it was weird when her mother was bathing her. Anna didn't miss her mother's watchful eyes, perhaps inspecting for a scratch or bruise on her body. When no kind of injuries were found, her mother seemed to relax more and then pour more soap to create more bubble in bathtub.

 

"Turn around."Her mother had poured shampoo over the red-head and about to rinse it. Anna was playing the bubble and couldn't help it but feeling a little miss without her rubber duck.

 

Both mother and daughter fell into comfortable silence while only occasionally her mother would comment casually about her bubbly bath.

 

"You know, it is okay if you want to stay at home and read as many books as you like." Her mother said while she was drying Anna's hair with a soft towel.

 

"Really?" Anna asked with hopeful tone.

 

"Yes. Your father and I will not force you to go outside anymore. It's just…" Her mother seemed struggling as her eyes glazed over while looking at Anna. "Just… please come home."

 

Anna's heart broke to pieces. What she had done? Also… what she should tell her parents?

 

Anna by no means a stupid child. However, no matter how talented she is, she couldn't conjure up a lie to cover her time-travel experience. Forget it. She can't lie. Period.

 

So when she and her parents had settled on the couch in living room, Anna had no choice but telling her parents about her three days adventure. She began with running, away from the bullies in the playground and went into the past. Anna told her parents about Corona in 19th century and her beautiful friend, Elsa. Anna chose to not tell about vampire part since it seemed her parents were still processing the first information.

 

"You did what?" Her father inquired, not believing what his daughter had been telling him.

 

"You went to Corona." Her mother deadpanned. "That is neighboring country and 10 hours drive by car."

 

"It was 19th century, mom. There wasn't a car. Horses though, there were various kinds and colors!" Anna couldn't contain her excitement during her story.

 

"Who is this Elsa?" Her father finally caught up.

 

"My friend." Anna replied. "She is very beautiful and awesome. She bought me so many candies and she has the most blue eyes!" Anna grinned. "She is so kind that she always looks at me that reminds me of you, mom!"

 

The last part wouldn't be forgotten by her mother. Cassandra narrowed her eyes, focusing about this Elsa character that had seemed gotten her daughter's interest. "What's Elsa's last name?"

 

Anna hadn't recalled it. It felt wrong if Elsa had a last name. All this time, Anna had been comfortable to see Elsa as Elsa. No other kind.

 

Anna shrugged.

 

Her mother seemed tense as her back was straightened and her eyes full of unreleased fury. Anna knew because her mother had that look when she had caught a stranger had been trying to take her away one day when she was separated from her mom. It had been a miscommunication as turned out, the stranger had been trying to take Anna to the information center, however, the rage her mother had showed that day was unforgettable.

 

When her mother's figure was shaking, Anna noticed that her father had reached for her mother's hand and held it.

 

Anna felt guilty. It was all because of her, not calculating what time she would be returned from the past. Anna made a mental note that she should do more studying before her next jump. The studying and researching was in her next agenda.

 

There were no more questions asked that night. Anna didn't know if her parents had believed her story or not.

 

Her parents agreed to buy her a cell-phone for emergency. And their meeting for the night was concluded by her father when she couldn't contain her long yawn.

 

After that day, her parents took a turn to tuck her in each night.

 

Two weeks later, they decided that they needed to move and gave Anna new environment.

 

.

 

They moved to an apartment complex near the university where her mother was working. Her father, however had to commute by train everyday because his workplace was in another city.

 

Anna didn't know why, but she didn't complain.

 

Her new school was more acceptable than the previous one. Anna assumed that it was because the people in the city had been more open-minded and the teachers were able to answer all of her questions patiently.

 

Her favorite activity was whenever her mother would take her to the university. Her mother was a scientist working in university's lab. Every time she visited, her mother's colleagues would supply her with various books while waiting for her mother to finish the day.

 

Ever since the day of her mysterious disappearance, both her parents seemed reluctance to leave their daughter alone. So, they would take turn to watch over Anna. In weekdays after school, her mother would pick her up and bought her lunch. If she didn't require to work after hour, they would go home or taking a detour to buy some groceries for dinner.

 

At weekend, her father would be with her. Anna would find herself spending her Saturday playing chess, video games, discussing some books with her father. There was one Saturday when her father took her to watch a baseball game and Anna's only comment about the game was that the hot dog is overcooked. After that day, her father would stick to video game and chess.

 

It had been nice and Anna didn't experience any jump for almost 6 months.

 

At Anna's 11th birthday, she got a letter.

 

The morning was like the usual. Anna woke up at 7 while she heard the sound of her mother preparing breakfast in the kitchen and her father took a shower.

 

The letter was placed exactly on the middle of her table, exactly on top of history book.

 

Anna had expected it as a happy birthday card from her parents. She frowned when she didn't find any card, instead she got a simple paper that had a messy written on it.

 

'Ask for a swimming lesson today' the letter said.

 

Anna knew that the letter hadn't been from her parents since the handwriting was messy and there were doodles on the side of the paper.

 

Anna froze.

 

Doodles that she had been awfully familiar with.

 

The girl shoved the letter to the deepest compartment in her drawer. Her heart was beating too fast for her liking and sweat was started forming on her forehead.

 

The doodles were obviously drawn by her. The messy letter was written by her. For her.

 

Her 11th birthday had began with a bang.

 

.

 

Her mother was excited, more excited than the birthday girl. After placing a special bunny pancake on Anna's plate, her mother informed that there would be a famous professor visiting the university.

 

Anna was biting her breakfast while her mother gushed over some research journals that the professor had conducted.

 

Sometimes Anna almost forgot that her mother was a nerd.

 

Anna's ears perked up when her mother mentioned about the professor's latest research. It was about time relativity and matters.

 

When Anna snapped up her gaze from the plate to her mother, she saw her mother's eyes gleamed with amusement. "She would be talking in a seminar today. I know how much you like the time relativity stuffs- Do you want to come?"

 

"Yes!" Anna replied in a heartbeat. She was beaming.

 

A professor specialized in time relativity was almost like a gold card for Anna. She had countless questions she wanted to ask that she couldn't wait anymore. She wanted to ask to skip for the day but her mother obviously would refuse.

 

Except history and physics, the rest of the subjects were useless for her.

 

.

 

In school, Anna had several friends congratulating and wishing her happy birthdays. She appreciated the gesture and her mind went back to previous school where nobody even bothered to ask for her birthday. Here, the kids were different. Even though, Anna had no really close friends, her classmates were generally nice and polite.

 

Her mother's car had been waiting outside when the bell rang. Anna packed her bag with lightning speed and got inside the car in record time.

 

Cassandra had been smiling all the time when she saw her daughter was running to the car. Her daughter was half running and half jumping in excitement.

 

"So… have you met the professor yet?"

 

Cassandra hummed slightly before answering, "Yes. She is amazing and very beautiful too."

 

"What's her name?" Curious and more impatient of Anna made Cassandra tempted to take a longer route to university just to tease her little redhead.

 

"Professor French. Belle French."

 

Anna giggled, "her name sounds like a princess."

 

"Don't let that fool you. She is more a geek than I am."

 

Their car had entered the university complex. Anna noticed an unfamiliar yellow car in the parking lot. Because her father really loved to play Need for Speed, Anna recognized the car as a Porsche 611 type. Fast and stylish car if the owner had chosen the yellow one.

 

"Yes, that's Professor French's car." The car had been parked and Anna practically jumped out first.

 

Anna inspected the car closer and she had to admit that she was impressed with the automobile. The graphic in the game didn't do justice to the real thing.

 

"The professor is odd." Anna tilted her head up to see her mother who led Anna inside while holding her hand.

 

"Why is it, dear?"

 

"Well… Professor Belle French! She has a name of princess! She is a researcher, scientist, and more geek than you, mom. But she has a racing car. Is she a scientist, a racer, or a princess?" Anna was pondering out loud.

 

Her mother laughed but then her delight was cut short when she saw the figure standing in front of them.

 

Anna caught a sight of a young brunette woman, standing on the door of seminar hall. She wore a knee-length designed yellow dress beneath her white lab coat. Her identity tag had 'Belle French' written on it.

 

Her mother hadn't lied when she said that the professor was beautiful. The professor had a heart-shaped face, rich brown eyes, pale skin, and figure like super models.

 

Professor Belle French waved and walked to their direction.

 

Anna couldn't help but questioning inside her head, are you a scientist, a racer, a princess, or a supermodel?

 

The professor threw a warm smile at her, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Anna, "Can't I be all of it?"

 

Anna blinked. Did she just read her mind?

 

"Good afternoon, Professor Summers." She watched the Professor greeted her mother while still laying her gaze on Anna's direction.

 

"Good afternoon, Professor French. Please, call me Cassandra."

 

"Only if you call me Belle." The younger professor laughed. Belle lowered her body, bowing a little so she could be the same level as Anna. "And who is the little one?"

 

"My daughter. Anna. She has been excited to join your seminar. Time relativity is her favorite subject." Now her mother was doing the introduction since apparently Anna was tongue-tied.

 

"Is that so? How old are you, Anna?"

 

Anna braved herself to look back at Belle. "I am 11 today." Somehow her reply sounded a bit defensive.

 

"Oh! Happy birthday to you!" Belle smiled and casually reached Anna for a hug.

 

Anna hadn't expected for a hug, moreover from someone she had just met.

 

Suddenly, Anna's sense of smell was attacked by the smell of chocolate. Her favorite chocolate.

 

Belle released her hug but not before she caressed Anna's cheek affectionately.

 

"I wish you all the time of happiness in the world, little one." With that, Belle excused herself and headed straightly to the seminar room.

 

The lingering cold on Anna's cheek made the little girl shivered.

 

Professor Belle French had very cold hands. Like Elsa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The past event histories that Anna has jumped into are fictional although some parts are inspired from the true events.


	3. Jump 3: Belle French

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna glared at the Professor.
> 
> Who are you?
> 
> Belle sighed, as she threw up both of her hands on the air. "Look, Anna… I cannot explain it better myself. I'd rather just show you. You will understand in no time!"
> 
> "What do you mean?"
> 
> Belle brought her wristwatch closer. "5." She said quietly.
> 
> Huh?
> 
> "4…" The brunette professor continued. "3…"
> 
> It was a countdown. "2…" Anna bolted for the door at once. Whatever would transpire, she didn't want to be in it.
> 
> "1."
> 
> The moment her hand reached for the handle, she felt her surrounding shifted. On the background she still could hear the professor murmured cheekily.
> 
> "Zer.."

* * *

 

 _ **"It doesn't have to be on Valentine's Day. It doesn't have to be by the time you turn eighteen or thirty-three or fifty-nine. It doesn't have to conform to whatever is usual. It doesn't have to be kismet at once, or rhapsody by the third date.** _  
_**It just has to be. In time. In place. In spirit.** _  
_**It just has to be."** _  
_**― David Levithan** _

* * *

 

.

Two hours, participating the seminar with other adult's scientist, Anna barely grasped half the things they had been discussing. There were a lot of numbers, formulas, science theory that the young red-head didn't understand at all.

 

She perhaps, was a smart kid and more perceptive than the other kids at her age, but she wasn't a genius. Although she really wished she is one right now.

 

One of college students raised his hand to deliver a question. He wore a pair of very thick glasses. Actually, Anna noticed that most of the college students that was attending the seminar, wore glasses. They were dressed exactly like the epitome of 'Geek' people.

 

Anna would never understand about glasses and geek people. Her mother was a geek scientist, but she had better fashion style than half people in this room. Professor Belle French had no trace of being a geek at all. She was too pretty, but again… Anna had been learning that to never judge book by its cover.

 

"Professor French…" The geek boy stammered a bit. His face was flushed. "Based on your research, you wrote that the possibility of humanity to build a time machine is less than zero. May I quote that you also stated that 'humanity has better chance to make the pigs fly or blow up a galaxy than creating a machine to pass through time stream,' why is that, professor?"

 

That part at least Anna could understand. She suddenly felt eager to hear Professor French's answer.

 

Professor Belle French, walked away from the podium and approached the audience seat. The brunette Professor formed a small smile as she began to answer. "Yes. It's easy to make the pigs fly, isn't it? Lift them up on an airplane, zeppelin, tie them on a parachute, they would fly!"

 

The audience laughed.

 

"In my research I also explained about time as the fourth dimension." Belle continued when the laughing and snickering had died down. "Time is not a matter. Which making the saying of 'it's only a matter of time' into an irony. No, Time is not a thing. It doesn't have beginning or end… as that concept has come from us, the mortals."

 

The way she said the word 'Mortals' had made Anna shiver. There was strange effect in the word.

 

"Time is not energy either because, energy… is the product of time itself. That would make time to be a creator of matter and energy… it creates as it destroys, it preserves as it devastates… It cannot be controlled, it cannot be manipulate, it is a different, independent entity. Emphasize my word in the entity part. Also… no, it is not a God. It doesn't have beard."

 

The audience laughed again, although the laughter was a bit tamer than the previous one. Most of them were processing the professor's explanation.

 

"By entity… is it alive?" Anna only whispered her pondering but unexpectedly, the Professor caught her words.

 

"Well… little one. Yes. I'm glad you catch on. You are very bright." Belle praised her with proud expression Anna felt nostalgic with. The red-head felt uncomfortable with the sudden attention from the people in the room. She snuggled closer to her mother who had been sitting beside her.

 

"Like little Miss Summers said… I believe the Time is a being. Not an organic one that has expired dates… but a sentient, conscious being. My belief though is still a hypothesis. That's why I have been dedicating my life to study thoroughly about the relativity and in this case… Time's consciousness. Therefore, no machine can be built to counter and make a hole without costing a doomsday. No, the machine itself should be another being. Now, humanity barely capable to create the simplest organic being, I would put my life-time salary to bet that creating and building a powerful sentient would be more impossible than making the pigs fly."

 

The rest of the seminar spent for discussing more about the formulas and number in Professor's research. Anna preferred to tune out and doodling the page of her school books.

 

Time is a being.

 

When the seminar had ended, her mother gave her a tour around the university and the research facility building. Sure, she had been spending time at the university in past months, however Anna hadn't yet venture the entire building.

 

"What do you think of the discussion in the seminar?" Her mother asked. They had stopped by on a corndog stall for lunch. Anna had already had a chocolate ice cream in her hand. Her mother had chided about eating treats before lunch, but finally gave out since today had been her daughter's birthday.

 

"Interesting." The red-head licked her melted ice cream. "Actually I didn't understand most of the science-y part…"

 

Her mother chuckled, "You know that, most 11 years old kid would prefer to go to zoo, movies, or malls in their birthdays."

 

Anna winced, "I hate shopping."

 

Her mother patted her head, smiling, "That's why I'm blessed."

 

Her mother had shown her the university's library. Anna felt immediately stupid. The library held more than 300,000 copies of various collections, both academic and non-academic books. The red-head girl felt that with the books she had been reading… she was inadequate in any ways.

 

"Come on, let's show you the sport center." Her mother dragged her stunned daughter away from the library. If she had known that it was this easy to give her daughter the best gift for her birthday… Cassandra would've done it on Anna's 5th birthday.

 

Anna pouted but then followed her mother to a big circular building that held various courts, stadium, indoor fields, and massive pools.

 

That reminded her…

 

"I want a swimming lesson." Anna said when they passed the pool area.

 

"… hmm.. It's rare for you to express any interest in sports dear…" Her mother mused.

 

Anna cringed. Sport wasn't her favorite subject. She was the fastest kid in her previous school. She could run fast… but her reflex… she had poor reflex.

 

"I will speak with your father. They seem to open a swimming course at the pool near the neighborhood."

 

Ana nodded. If she had gone far to remind her own self about a swimming lesson, it would mean only one thing.

 

There would come a future (or past, her head was hurt if she thought about the implications), where she it would be needed.

 

Their tour continued to the dorm building and classes in science department. It was almost 5 when her mother finally concluded their grand university tour and they were on their way back to the lab.

 

That moment, they came across with Professor French.

 

"Cassandra." Belle greeted her mother first and threw a wink at Anna's direction. "Hello again, bright little one."

 

Anna lowered her gaze immediately. Looking at the Professor made her face felt hot.

 

"Are you on your way back, Belle?" Her mother asked her colleague. "Oh, that was a good presentation by the way. Anna loved it." Her mother remarked.

 

Anna didn't need to look up to see the younger Professor was smiling widely, "Really?"

 

Anna squirmed.

 

"Actually, Cassandra. I have been sent to looking for you. There is an urgent matter about the latest research in office." Professor French said.

 

"Ahh… I forget that my phone has been in silent mode since the seminar…" Her mother checked the phone and frowned. Anna peeked that there were 12 missed calls. The 'urgent matter' must've been very important.

 

Her mother looked troubled as she was now looking at her. Catching her concern, I spoke first, "I'll be alright mom. I will wait for you like usual."

 

Her mom smiled, a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Will you be okay?"

 

"I am 11!" Anna exclaimed.

 

"I can watch over her." A third voice quipped. Professor Belle French. Anna felt a bad feeling crept up on her.

 

"That would be very appreciated, but I don't want to trouble you…."

 

"Nonsense. I like your little one. She and I can discuss more about the seminar topic…" Belle winked again at Anna's direction. "What do you think, little one?"

 

Anna huffed. "My name is Anna, I'm not little."

 

Belle laughed, a very melodious voice, again reminded Anna much with Elsa. "See? Your daughter is in good hands."

 

Her mother sighed, "thank you… I will be back soon." She turned to Anna, "You wait with Professor Belle, okay?"

 

Anna weakly nodded.

 

After her mother left, Belle offered her palm-up hand at Anna. "So, Anna…" Belle's eyes twinkled. "Do you have question about time?"

 

"I have a question." Anna said when they both had settled in her mother's office. Belle treated Anna an orange juice from the vending machine. They were both alone and outside the office, most of the researchers were busy attending the 'urgent matter'.

 

Belle tilted her head. The deep rich, chocolate eyes gave Anna an undivided attention.

 

"You said the time machine is impossible to build. But you never said that travelling through time is impossible activity… so… is it possible?" Anna sat straighter on the couch. She liked to appear taller in front of the professor. She hated it when people treated her like a kid.

 

"You are indeed a very bright child." Belle smirked. A much different smile than she had showed during her presentation. This one seemed more… challenging.

 

"Travelling through time… is not very impossible…" There were words left unsaid in the answer but Anna didn't want to push more.

 

"You said that Time is Being… it will not allow any intervention that could cause total destruction…" Anna was trying to understand.

 

"Yes. Because it is a being… I believe the control only comes from itself. Not other. Imagine Anna, if one is granted by the power to manipulate time…"

 

"So… travel but not alter?" Anna asked again.

 

Belle seemed surprised by the capability of Anna's comprehension of the topic. "Yes. Exactly."

 

"So, how one can travel time?"

 

The surprised expression was as quick to go as it comes. The brunette professor was back to her challenging smirk.

 

"As the being, time only allow one that has in tune with it to go through. In other word… Chemistry to the time itself."

 

Anna frowned. If she could go back in time, accidentally or not… does that mean she has the Chemistry to time?

 

"Yes you do." Belle said.

 

Anna was sure that she hadn't spoken out loud. Did she just read her mind?

 

"Yes, I did." The smirk twitched and now Belle's expression was amused. What the hell?

 

Belle frowned, "word, young lady. It's inappropriate."

 

"Stay out of my head then!"

 

Belle chuckled, "I'm trying but you hold very interesting mind."

 

Anna got up from her seat. Whoever this professor was, she needed to get away from her. To be able to read other people's mind is not normal!

 

"Either the capability to travel through time." Belle countered.

 

Anna glared at the Professor.

 

Who are you?

 

Belle sighed, as she threw up both of her hands on the air. "Look, Anna… I cannot explain it better myself. I'd rather just show you. You will understand in no time!"

 

"What do you mean?"

 

Belle brought her wristwatch closer. "5." She said quietly.

 

Huh?

 

"4…" The brunette professor continued. "3…"

 

It was a countdown. "2…"

 

Anna bolted for the door at once. Whatever would transpire, she didn't want to be in it.

 

"1."

 

The moment her hand reached for the handle, she felt her surrounding shifted. On the background she still could hear the professor murmured cheekily.

 

"Zer.."

 

.

 

* * *

 

 

Anna yelped when her landing didn't end nicely like her previous ones. She fell on her back, in the middle of what it seemed bed of bushes. She got herself up but then winced palpably when her hand was cut by something sharp.

 

Thorns.

 

Apparently she had landed on a bed of roses.

 

Anna cursed her luck and jumped o her feet, didn't want to take more chance being stabbed by flowers.

 

When she had more time to take her surrounding Anna recognized herself standing on a massive garden. There were a lot of flowers, which by closer inspection, all of them were roses, different color of roses. In the middle of garden, there was a fountain with some little angels's statues and behind her, an old looking mansion proudly stood.

 

If she hadn't known better, Anna would've guessed that this was a fairytale land.

 

Further away from the garden was a labyrinth maze made of bushes. Anna tempted to try out the maze but she had no idea where and when she was.

 

Then, out of the maze, a white beard old man caught her gaze. The man looked confused at first but then his expression turned pale.

 

"INTRUDER!" He shouted out loud. Quite surprising that the old man would be able to shout that loud which Anna was sure even the people inside the mansion could hear.

 

Anna cursed again and reacted quickly. She needed to get away from wherever she was. Based on the old man's reaction, people in this era wasn't really fond on strangers.

 

What era is this anyway?

 

So, Anna did what she does best. Run.

 

She took direction of the forest beyond the garden. Which she would regret later as now she was too busy to runaway.

 

After several time passed and the clearing around her had changed into tall trees, did Anna stop.

 

She was in the middle of a jungle.

 

What jungle, she had no idea, even what time of this jungle, she had no idea.

 

She was in a very deep shit.

 

Why bad things had to happen in her birthday. She preferred it wouldn't happen in usual day but, was a birthday supposed to be special day?

 

Special indeed. Her birthday had been filled with sting of bizarre events. Letter from her future-self, strange professor, and the strange professor that could read minds. She would wish for a very ordinary birthday next year when she blew the candle on her cake.

 

She hadn't even had a cake. Her parents surely had prepared a birthday cake for tonight.

 

She wanted to go home.

 

Anna's tears threatened to fall as she realized how she already missed her mother and strangely… she missed Elsa. Where was she? She always appeared everytime Anna jumped to the past.

 

Barely an hour in the past and she is already crying. What kind of 11 years old am I?

 

In her desperate moment, Anna heard sound of footsteps. Several of footsteps.

 

Anna's sense of dangers picked up. She knew that her guts rarely failed her. Her feelings about Professor French had been spotted on. The woman was indeed strange.

 

So, instead approaching the sign of humanity, Anna opted to climb the nearest tree and assessed the situation.

 

Climbing wasn't her forte, but she managed it with few moments of struggling.

 

Not long after she had set up on a big branch, a group of men appeared on her view. The group was consisted of several scary burly men which each of them were carrying weapons. Swords, spears, machete, and simply a big iron pole. Anna noticed that behind the group they were also pulling a cart full of hay. Their clothes were leathers and looked like armors from the video game RPG her father loved to play.

 

Not 19th century then. Anna concluded.

 

Anna held her breathe until the group completely disappeared from her sight.

 

Anna wondered what they were going to do. However, her problem was now a different matter.

 

She could climb up alright.

 

But she was totally terrified to climb down.

 

Anna paled upon the realization.

 

What she was going to do now?

 

The sun was starting to set as the sky was getting darker. Anna contemplated her fate. She could jump down and landed on the bushes. What the worst could happen anyway?

 

She could break her neck.

 

Awesome.

 

She had tried her best to concentrate to go back to her own time. However, in the two jumps she had experienced, she couldn't control when and where she jump. She could stay on this tree for the rest of her life.

 

Anna wanted to cry again.

 

Her view was blurred. She realized that her tears couldn't be hold back anymore.

 

Anna didn't notice the sound of horse steps approaching. She sniffed, closing her eyes, letting her tears fall freely. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see a woman pulled a rein of her white horse, making a stop directly below the tree.

 

She didn't see the woman slid down from the horse and looked up to find a red-head girl crying on a branch of a tree.

 

If she opened her eyes, she would've seen the woman with billowing blue dress, gracefully leaped up and landed next to her. She would've witnessed the woman's concern and longing gaze etched on her inhumanly beautiful face.

 

"Anna…"

 

However, she didn't need to open her eyes to acknowledge the owner of the voice which she had secretly declared as her favorite tune.

 

So, Anna reached out for the woman and she was welcomed into a very familiar hug with scent of chocolate.

 

"Elsa…" Anna sobbed. "I-I…" Anna had wanted to say that she was too scared to climb down the tree but it would've sounded so silly.

 

"It's alright Anna…" Elsa caressed Anna's hair gently to calm the young woman. "I find you… I always will."

 

.

 

"What year is it?" Anna asked. Elsa had sat her on the horse in front. It was Anna's first time to ride one, and the older woman didn't want to take any chance for Anna to fall from a horse if she rides on the back. Moreover, the platinum blond-haired vampire could hold Anna closer like this.

 

"1740, Land of Brittanica." Elsa answered simply. Anna's scent enclosed her senses but she knew better than react on her instinct. "How old are you?" Elsa observed that the girl was possibly in the early of her adolescent age.

 

"11… exactly today… or in my time." Anna squirmed a little when the horse jolted a little bit.

 

"That's wonderful. Happy birthday." Elsa had to fasten her grip on Anna with one hand, steadying the agitated girl. "So… did I already tell you about… my kind?" To be truthful, Elsa had no preparation about the way she should explain to Anna about Vampires. This younger Anna looked too young, and deep in her heart, she had ultimate fear of Anna looking at her like she was a monster.

 

She was, but she couldn't have handled the thought of Anna becoming afraid of her.

 

"You did… or you will, because you told… tell me… centuries later. Arrgggh… the whole time travel thing makes my head hurt!" Anna pouted, Elsa was amused. The younger Anna was quite… endearing.

 

"What do you think about the idea of supernatural beings like us?" Elsa's hand which was holding the rein, clenched.

 

"I don't know about other supernatural creatures… but I think yours are cool… cool as if ice cool and awesome." The red-hair girl shrugged. "I said to you… I mean the Elsa that explained me about Vampires… I said that I like your cold. It's weird… but somehow calming."

 

Elsa had no doubt that her future self had swoon on Anna's word. The girl was obliviously a charmer.

 

"So… how many times you have jumped?" They were passing through a clear road. It would allow Elsa to use her other hand to stroke Anna's hair.

 

"This is the third. I was talking with Professor French when this happened…"

 

"Who?" Elsa's hand paused, hovering above Anna's red locks.

 

"Professor French, Belle French." Anna replied. The girl shifted her gaze from the street to Elsa. She noticed Elsa's puzzled expression. "Do you know her?"

 

Elsa shook her head, "I cannot say… but the name does ring a bell." The French family was known as a prominent name around the town Elsa had been residing. Lord French was a noble that had been supporting the old reign of the empire. The falling old reign, and the man was fighting against the odd with the new ruler. Last thing Elsa had heard about the French family was that the Lord's daughter is going to marry another unknown Lord who had residence deep in the forest.

 

Anna's mouth opened, about to ask another question when a gusted wind brought human blood scent to Elsa's nose.

 

Elsa narrowed her eyes as she aware that the blood scent was still quite fresh… and came from more than one person. A road raid was common occurrence. Elsa chastised herself to take this road at this time of night. Bandits were surely targeting travelers and band of merchants.

 

"What is it, Elsa?"

 

"Human blood… up ahead the road." Elsa said quietly. If she were alone, she would've go and checked the situation by herself, however Anna was with her… she couldn't leave the girl and to bring her was obviously dangerous for a little human.

 

"Someone is hurt? We have to help them." Anna's voice held a heavy concern. Elsa wished that the younger Anna hadn't been so noble and concerned with other people's welfare much like her older-self. But she shouldn't have expected any less from her little time traveler.

 

Yes, Anna was hers.

 

"It's dangerous." Elsa hissed. "It's better to take the roundabout route." She snatched the horse rein and pulled it to go back to the direction they came from.

 

"No, Elsa! We have to help!" Anna insisted. Even the stubborn side had been shown since early age. If the situation was different, she would've been proud. Elsa saw Anna's tiny human hand grasped her wrist and tugging it away from the horse. The way that Anna's eyes were blazing of determination startled her unbeaten heart.

 

Elsa sighed, "Alright. I will go there…" Elsa didn't have time to finish her say when Anna cut in.

 

"I'm going with you."

 

"No." Elsa felt a round two was coming. It was no way that she would bring Anna to a place where a bloodbath was happening. She could barely contain herself by the amount of blood that she had smelt through the wind.

 

"I'm going with you! I don't care if there is bunch of cannibal aliens ahead, I will go with you!"

 

Elsa raised an eyebrow, "Alien?"

 

Anna's pointed her finger to the sky, "terrestrial being… you know, uhm… star's people."

 

Elsa didn't want to ask further since it seemed to be the future people's things. "Alright then." Elsa gave up. She helped Anna down from the horse. "But we will do this in my pace." Elsa's tone was final. The older Anna was reasonable for compromise, Elsa hoped that this younger Anna would be the same.

 

"Okay." Anna nodded.

 

Anna found herself being lifted from the ground and being carried in Elsa's arms.

 

"Hey!" She wasn't a kid and could very well walk on her feet.

 

"It's faster this way." Anna heard Elsa say. Anna didn't understand Elsa's meaning by 'faster' but then she noticed that Elsa had made a leap and dash with the wind, 'faster' than she could blink.

 

It was like riding a motorcycle but in higher speed and the view was… gorgeous. Anna thought as she couldn't move her gaze from Elsa's pale face.

 

Apparently, vampires could run like a bullet… Anna had to make a mental note about the new finding. 19th century Elsa hadn't explained about Vampire's capabilities thoroughly.

 

"What else you can do?" Anna asked. Elsa was taking them through the forest.

 

Elsa's eyes found hers, didn't catching her question fully.

 

"Well… you can't read people's mind… can you?" Anna asked suspiciously. It would've been embarrassing since Elsa could've heard her secret that Anna didn't want anyone to hear. For example… Anna didn't want Elsa to know that she was still sleeping with her teddy bear despite being a 11 years old. The girl felt like she had an image to uphold around the vampire woman.

 

"No, Anna. I can't read minds. But, yes… I can do other thing…" Elsa smiled. "I'm surprised that the future me didn't explain about that part."

 

"We hadn't had much time. I can't control when and how I make a jump." Anna said, frustrated. It would've been convenient if she could control her time-jump as her wish. There, she wouldn't have landed on a bed of thorns and being pulled to the past only to come back 3 days later, making her parents worried to the core.

 

"Don't worry, you will." Elsa reassured her.

 

There was this way about Elsa that Anna couldn't explain it. The vampire woman's words always had certain effect on her emotional state. If she was in distress, Elsa's voice would calm her. If she was angry, her assurance words would cool her down, and if she was sad and alone… Anna missed Elsa's presence near her.

 

That time, Anna had no idea about the emotion she was feeling.

 

When they reached their destination, Elsa lowered Anna to the ground and immediately covered her nose with a handkerchief the vampire had conjured out of nowhere.

 

The sight Anna was witnessing would be marked in her mind forever.

 

There was a lot of blood, as it looked like more than 10 people were lying on the dirt, lifeless with gaping wound on their body. Anna had her share in watching horror and gore movies behind her mother's back, but seeing the real version of human bodies had made her sick.

 

Anna closed her eyes, covered her mouth and ran to the nearby bushes. The corndog and chocolate ice cream she had had for lunch made appearance in 18th century. Anna sarcastically remarked.

 

"Are you alright?" Anna felt Elsa's cold hand on her back. Anna caught concern and panic in her favorite pair of blue eyes. Now she felt guilty to force Elsa to bring her here.

 

"I'll live." Anna squinted. "Those people don't."

 

Elsa straightened up her posture, she looked suddenly alert. "… Not all of them…" Elsa murmured.

 

The blond vampire rushed to the ruin of dead bodies, broken carts, and upside down carriages.

 

Few minutes later, Elsa re-emerged with a bleeding woman on her hands. Anna had to focus as her view was hindered by smokes and darkness of night.

 

When Elsa was only few feet away, Anna finally could get a better sight.

 

The woman Elsa had found had jet black-haired and tanned skin. She wore a fine-tailored yellow dress.

 

Her face was too familiar to her liking.

 

"She said her name is Belle French before she fell unconscious." Elsa lowered the woman to the ground.

 

Anna gasped, her eyes darted from Elsa and then back to the wounded woman. Her hair color was different… and her skin color wasn't as pale as Professor Belle she knew. The woman had so much blood on her.

 

"I'm sorry Anna… her wound is so severe… it's too late." After easing down Belle to the ground, Elsa was back at Anna's side holding her hands.

 

Anna was too shocked to feel Elsa's cold hand on her, tugging her away from Professor Belle French's dying body.

 

She had to do something. This was wrong. Professor Belle was very much alive in her time. A bit strange but she was alive.

 

With unusual set of cold hands.

 

"Save her." Anna whispered.

 

Her whisper was more than enough as Vampires had keener senses than human.

 

"What?" Elsa softly inquired.

 

"Save her, Elsa… please. In my time, her hands are very cold that she reminds me of you."

 

With that Anna saw Elsa's blue eyes hardened and her mouth formed a thin line as the blond vampire clenched her hands hard.

 

Anna gulped, taking a step back from her vampire friend. Elsa noticed this and at once loosening her stance. The hardness still left in her eyes.

 

"I'm sorry Anna… what you ask of me to do… is very hard."

 

Anna's breath caught on her throat.

 

"But I will try…" Elsa continued. "There is one condition though. I want you to look away. What I'm about to do… I don't want you to see me… it's…"

 

Anna nodded, "I understand." The girl turned her heels when Elsa grabbed her arm.

 

"Here, a present for you." Elsa slipped something cold onto her palm. "I wish you all the time of happiness on the world. It's a promise." Elsa left a kiss on her forehead.

 

On her palm, Anna spotted a beautiful flower sculpted of ice.

 

"It won't melt as long as my existence allows." Elsa's dainty finger trailed on Anna's face, as if she wanted to engrave the girl's face in memory by her touch.

 

Anna thought her birthday perhaps wasn't really too bad at all. "Thank you…"

 

After that, her world blurred again, shifting back to its axis.

 

* * *

 

Anna recognized the handle of the blue door on her mother's office. She also recognized the shelves and low ceiling interior of the office.

 

She turned around.

 

Professor Belle French was sitting on the couch, an expression of relief and happiness decorated her pale feature.

 

"You are not dying…" Anna murmured. She was overwhelmed with very old sensation when the person in front of her who had been dying seconds ago now very much looked alive and happy. Anna preferred this version of Belle French better though. No matter how strange the woman was.

 

"Thank you, I would pick me too." Belle said.

 

Anna almost forgot that the woman could read minds. "How long I-"

 

"Not more than 10 minutes." Belle walked over where Anna was standing and kneeled in front of the girl. The Professor reached out, she gently wiped soot off Anna's cheek. Belle could read from Anna's mind about what the little girl had experienced in the past. The young professor couldn't help but trembled as an image of herself, bleeding and dying was shown from Anna's thought. The memory of death had been long forgotten.

 

"I'm sorry you had to witness all of that." Belle's eyes held sorrow and like Elsa, her hand moved to stroke Anna's hair. Belle felt something warm crept up to her dead heart when the young time traveler didn't shy away from her touch.

 

"It looks like I owe you a thank you for saving my life." Belle continued.

 

"Elsa saved you." Anna corrected the Professor.

 

"Not if you didn't ask her to."

 

"… I didn't do anything." Anna avoided Belle's eyes. Her gaze settled on Elsa's gift in her hand. A flower made of ice.

 

"I wish the child version of you would've owned less of bleeding heart. However, it seems you were born with that trait… not helping at all." Belle sighed. The Professor also eyed Elsa's gift on Anna's hand.

 

"That flower, would flourish through time… if you think it's beautiful now, it would be hundred times more in the future." Belle caught the image of a blue-eyed vampire smiling and kissing Anna's forehead. The professor quickly shut her mind, feel she had intruded the special bond between the two.

 

"You said, through time?" Anna grinned. Several puns about time started popping out in her mind.

 

"Stop that, child." Belle frowned when bad jokes and puns from Anna's mind flew into hers.

 

Anna's laugh exploded. "Don't poke into my head or I will start filling my mind with bad puns and national anthem!"

 

"Alright!" Belle gave up.

 

"So… Belle French. You do not owe me a thank you. You owe me explanations."

 

They had no time for discussions because at next second the alarm in research facility went off while the system screen in a panel on Anna's mother's desk showed two words.

 

Code Red.

.


	4. Chapter 4: Multiple Jumps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I was born of Father Jacques D'arc and Mother Isabelle Romee…"
> 
> This time, it was Anna's turn to do a jaw-dropping.
> 
> Right now, in front of her, was standing, the very famous young Joan D'arc…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The historical event in this chapter is inspired from REAL people and event. There would be some changes to make it vague.

**“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”**  
**― Maya Angelou**

* * *

**.**

Red lights and alarm were blaring filling the building.

 

Anna saw Belle jumped from her seat and half-flew to her mother's desk. It took two seconds for the brunette professor to gain access on her mother's computer.

 

"Bollocks! This isn't simulation. We must evacuate." Belle said in hurry. Anna noticed how the professor's real accent had unconsciously bled in her sentences. "Now!"

 

Belle had a grip on Anna's arm when the younger girl had barely gathered herself. "Wait! What happened?"

 

The professor opened the office door and that moment they were ambushed by thick white smokes. Anna unknowingly inhaled the white fume and immediately assaulted with heat and burn on her throat. As quick as a vampire could move, Belle immediately covered Anna's nose and mouth with her hand.

 

"Hold your breath." Belle whispered right on her ear. Then, smoothly and quickly, the brunette professor swept Anna off of her feet.

 

Anna yelped when she found herself being lifted and carried again.

 

In between the smokes, blaring alarm, red-lights, the water pouring from the sprinklers, Anna realized that her mother was still inside the research center room.

 

No.

 

The red-head started to squirm on Belle's arms. She was struggling to jump out or at least get the Professor's attention on her.

 

Anna only managed to loosen Belle's hold on her face. "Mom! Mom is still inside! I need to go to her!"

 

They had reached the bottom floor through the emergency stairs exit. "No, Anna. It's too dangerous." Belle shook her head, her chocolate eyes seemed conflicted. "Whatever is happening, it comes from the research center. I think there is an incident…"

 

By that information, Anna turned pale. Her mother was clearly attending the 'urgent matter' in research room with some of her colleagues.

 

"We have to help them!" Anna began to fidget again. "Please, Belle! For all we know, the researchers are still in the center room!" Because there were only both of them standing directly before the emergency exit. Anna had learnt from her mother that the building had only one exit-way in case of any incidents is happening. The connecting doors would alter to manual mode and anything electrical would be shut down.

 

"They are." Belle nodded grimly. "I knew."

 

Anna frowned by Belle's response. However, after that, the younger girl recalled that all vampires had super-senses ability. They can see, hear, smell better than any human.

 

Belle nodded again, confirming Anna's thought.

 

"You knew! Yet you are the first to run! You should've helped them!" Anna's eyes shifted, from panic to anger. "You are a coward!"

 

Belle clutched her grip on Anna tighter; her expression showed that she wasn't affected by Anna's accusation and anger.

 

"I have to keep you safe first." Belle calmly replied.

 

"… but my mom-"

 

"I promise I will get the others after taking you to safety." The professor opened the metal doors by punching some keys on the side. "You are my priority, Anna."

 

Anna's head looked up. She didn't understand what Belle's words meant.

 

The door opened and they were immediately greeted by some firemen, ambulance, and police cars outside the research building.

 

The young professor lowered Anna to the ground. She escorted the red-head girl to one of the paramedic nearby. Anna had been too preoccupied to notice the concern look of the female officer who was standing nearby the truck.

 

It had been only 3 seconds but then after she was safely tucked away behind the ambulance, Professor Belle French had gone in flash. Ordinary human eyes wouldn't be able to keep up the flashes of movement sneaking back into the burning building.

 

Anna's gaze settled on the upper floor where the research center room was located. Never in her life she felt so scared and terrified. She replayed back the past hours her birthday day had been going. It was a roller coaster ride. It started as bizarre, then awesome, then good, then surprising, and now, the climax became terrifying.

 

"Are you alright, lass?" Someone touched her shoulder suddenly. Her body in reflex jerked away followed by a tiny shriek of surprise. Her eyes caught a figure of woman in black working suit and curly bright red-hair like a lion mane was hovering above her. A pair of teal eyes looked concern and a bit guilty.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you…" she offered a weak smile.

 

Something in this woman made her feel familiar. "Who are you?"

 

"Police Chief Arendelle PD, Merida Dunbroch… at your service." The woman chief extended her hand to Anna which the girl accepted.

 

And like Elsa and Professor Belle, the Chief's hand was ice cold.

 

Realization dawned on Anna's mind when she looked up, their eyes eventually met. It was like through their exchanged glances and Chief Dunbroch's wide grin that the knowledge about both of them was transpired.

 

Anna squeezed the familiar cold harder this time. It was odd. How her roller coaster birthday had mostly ended up in several pairs of cold hands. In addition, she also wondered how those coldness were the only thing that could manage to warm her heart and calm her down in midst of panic.

 

"Don't worry, Anna. Your mother is in good hands."

 

Anna knew that there couldn't be any better hands but pairs of cold ones to save her mother.

 

The Chief said that it had been 10 minutes but Anna felt like 10 eternities had passed when the exit door finally opened revealing some people with white coats – grey now after covered by soots- emerged from the burning building. Most of them were coughing and looked worse to wear and among them, Anna spotted her mother limping out first from the door.

 

Even the Vampire Chief couldn't beat her quick jump and dash toward her mother.

 

"Mom!" Anna shouted while running full-speed bypassing the firemen and the medics.

 

Her mother was frantically looking around her surrounding before her gaze found the small red-head daughter running toward her.

 

Anna could see her mother's eyes perked up. The older woman barely stretched both of her arms to catch her daughter mid-jump. They hugged and Anna could hear her mother released a long sigh of relief between the squeeze, the action resulted a mid cough from her mother.

 

Anna released their hug first, eyeing her mother in concern. "Mom! Are you alright?" Anna narrowed her eyes, inspecting any ill and injuries.

 

Her mother only nodded. She was smiling and Anna caught trail of tears on both of her mother's cheeks. Her mother's hands too traveled on Anna's head, face, and body, making sure that her only daughter had no injury from the fire. "You are okay." Her mother smiled, her voice was hoarse but it seemed not bothering her. "You are okay." Her mother repeated and pulled Anna into another hug. "I was out of my mind." She murmured softly.

 

Behind her mother, Anna saw Belle smiling sincerely after her gesturing a thumb up to the Professor. It was all she could do as she was unable to verbalize a thank you.

 

Now that she had gotten her mother safe and sound, her panic and fear had turned into pure curiosity

 

There were several questions swimming in Anna's head. Like; what had started the fire? How the professor saved the remaining researchers? Who exactly the police Chief? And… if Belle was here, as well as another vampire…

 

Is Elsa also here too?

 

Where is she? Vampire can live for eternity… so… she is here in Anna's timeline too, right?

 

Belle could hear everything that was running in Anna's mind.

 

'later' the brunette professor mouthed.

 

Even though the Professor had been running tearing through the burning building, her appearance was still intact and as flawless as Anna had first met her today. The vampire professor was still gorgeous to the point of real super-natural weirdness.

 

Belle raised an eyebrow and twitched a smirk, "why… thank you, my dear."

 

Anna blushed; she buried her face further into the crook of her mother's neck.

 

She cursed the vampire and the mind-reading ability.

 

Apparently the researchers only needed quick check up while few of them needed to go to the hospital for precaution in smoke inhalation. Her mother had told the medics that thank to Professor Belle's quick thinking to snatch the gas mask cabinet that they managed to not inhale much of the harmful fume.

 

Her mother though was one of the few that had to go to the hospital for further check-up. At first, she was reluctant to leave her daughter behind, or brought Anna together with her to hospital. However, like the solution of all problems in the world, for the second time of the day, Professor Belle appeared to sweep in and saved the day.

 

The professor offered herself to bring Anna home. She also offered that she could accompany the daughter until her father comes home.

 

And like all human mothers would have when her science-idol offered to take care her daughter, her mother had immediately agreed.

 

Anna saw the ambulance that carried her mother and the others turned to blend with the crowd of the street.

 

During all the talk and until now, Anna just noticed that Professor Belle's hand never let go from Anna's shoulder.

 

Several feet from them, the police Chief was busy taking statements from the remaining researchers. The Chief glanced at both of them and waved a little.

 

"I see that you have met with the Chief of Arendelle's finest?" Belle said with a hint of what Anna guessed as annoyance.

 

"Chief Dunbroch?" Anna tilted her head up and her guess was right as she spotted a frown on the Professor's forehead.

 

"You can call me Merida, lass!" Across them, The Chief said loudly, turning several heads to her.

 

Oh yeah, super-hearing.

 

Belle shook her head, "anyway… I knew that you must have been exhausted after today's ordeal…"

 

Anna was about to shoot her first question when Belle beat her with the next sentence.

 

"Your question can wait after I take you home and get you some rest. Understood?"

 

Anna suddenly felt like 5 years old being scolded by her kindergarten teacher. She didn't like it…

 

But she was tired and hungry. She had lost her lunch in 18th century afterall.

 

"Fine." She grunted.

 

Belle led them to her car when a young man researcher jogged toward them. Anna concluded that he was one of the trapped researchers since his white-coat was covered in soot and the end of his sleeve was singed rather badly. His appearance wasn't good at all and Anna immediately took a pity to the man with askew glasses and disheveled almost burnt hair.

 

Despite that, Professor Belle had stepped forward, placing herself between the man and Anna.

 

"Professor French. I'm sorry but we think we need your help-expertise regarding the 'urgent matter'…" The man breathlessly said.

 

Anna observed the brunette professor's expression shifted to what Anna couldn't figure out. "I can't… as you see, I have to take Professor Cassandra's daughter home. Can it wait until later?"

 

The pitiful researcher looked very devastated, "I'm afraid not… the 'urgent matter' is very unstable right now. We have found a way to contain it but… the calculation is somehow very dynamic that we cannot keep up."

 

A real concern was clearly transpired in the professor's eyes. "I see…" Belle turned around and faced the curious girl who had been waiting for her. "Something's come up. Please, wait inside the car… I will be back in a moment." She handed her key car to Anna.

 

Anna wanted to ask of what was happening but Belle merely shook her head, "I will explain later. Please, stay in the car. If it takes too long, I will send Merida to fetch you."

 

Anna wasn't given time to retort because the Professor had stride away with the young researcher.

 

Pouting, Anna stomped toward the car. She hated being treated as a child and Professor Belle had been treating her as one in past hour. She had had enough.

 

So, instead of going to the car, Anna quietly followed the professor and the researcher back into the building. The fire had been successfully extinguished and now some of college students and remaining researchers were busy cleaning up the mess. They took whatever that could be salvaged from the ruin while officers in field were placing yellow tape in front of the research center room.

 

Knowing that Belle could read her mind, Anna chose to memorize periodic table in her mind. She swiftly changed the topic between periodic table, national anthem, and some colorful curses that no 11 years old could have known.

 

Anna was proud of herself when Belle didn't notice her when they reached an office near the research center room. Upon entering the building, Anna had snatched one of the surviving white coats from the hangers in order to blend with the people inside the building. The read-head grinned from ear to ear. She felt like a genius.

 

"Here. We contain the 'urgent matter' inside this box. It keep shifting to random form in past hour. We afraid that removing it from here would trigger unwanted reaction and caused second explosion."

 

Anna was listening intently. She suppressed her surprise by cursing colorfully inside her head.

 

If Anna had known that Belle was too focused on the object that she didn't really listen to her surrounding…

 

"You are right. This matter is too unstable. However, based on my observation it also seems still weak after the first explosion. So, I think even though we trigger a reaction, there wouldn't be any explosion…"

 

But human couldn't risk it. As mild as the explosion the matter could make, it would cause injury for human.

 

"Therefore, I suggest you to let me remove it by myself." Professor Belle said.

 

"But… the risk…"

 

"I need your help, yes… could you fetch me few items for preparing this removal?" She fluidly ripped a paper from a journal nearby and began to write list of items for the young man to gather. She handed it with a flirty wink, "I count on you,"

 

With that kind of request, the young man researcher was off like wind to fulfill the professor's request.

 

Anna just aware that the action was merely for distracting the man to leave the vampire alone so she could do the task by herself.

 

Anna saw the brunette professor lifted the metal box onto her hand and inspected it carefully. A moment after that she put it back on the table and began to open the box with her bare-hand.

 

The metal box gave in under the vampire's grip with a loud pop.

 

From the dent and hole Professor Belle had made, Anna could see blue lights seeping through from the metal box. A bright blue light that reminded Anna of her favorite pair of eyes.

 

Image of Elsa materialized in her mind and Belle had caught it. That exact moment, the brunette professor knew that Anna was nearby.

 

"Anna?" panic filled her melodic voice when her vampire super-sight caught Anna's red hair between the shelves.

 

"Anna, I told you to stay inside the car." Belle chided approaching Anna, the metal box on the desk was momentarily forgotten.

 

"I'm not a child. You can't just shove me anywhere you like!" The younger girl replied, showing her frustration.

 

"I didn't shove you…" Belle frowned.

 

"Yes you did. Only 5 years old to be told to stay and wait in the car."

 

That was unfounded but Anna didn't care. "I have countless questions and you at least owe me hundred of answers!"

 

"Anna, I-"

 

"Where is Elsa? You are here, the Chief is here. Both of you are vampires, so… basically, Elsa also here, in this timeline, right? The incident, something has exploded, is that the thing that has exploded a moment ago? Why you carelessly handling it like you are about to open an Oreo? What if that thing explodes? There still are people in the building, dammit!"

 

Belle winced at Anna's little curse then sighed in defeat, "Yes, Anna. She is here." She decided to answer one at a time.

 

The response had shut Anna up. "Where?" the girl's head bobbed up and down, right and left, to find the familiar face she had been missing to see.

 

"She is close… but she can't see you right now. Believe me, Anna… what I have been doing… what we have been doing is solely for your sake."

 

Anna huffed, "I don't understand. How can I believe to something that I can't understand?"

 

Belle's eyes twinkled, "well, my dear Anna… do you believe in time-travel?"

 

Anna narrowed her eyes, knowing where the conversation was going. "Of course, I have jumped 3 times to the past."

 

"That Anna… is faith come first before logic and science. You just know and feel that it can be trusted… that it capable… that it exists…" Belle softened her gaze and tone. The professor brushed Anna's cheek gently with her knuckles. "I believe in you therefore, You are always my priority."

 

Anna had wanted to ask about the meaning of those words before. Now she still hadn't understood.

 

Behind the Professor Anna witnessed the bright blue light shined brighter from the box.

 

The girl's eyes widened when the object inside cracked the box into two.

 

"Bollocks!" Belle only aware of this and when she turned around, it was too late.

 

The world around them erupted.

 

What Anna could see only blue. Her favorite blue and she was drowning in it.

 

.

 

Kingdom of Macedonia – 1914

 

The bright blue light dissipated and replaced with crowd of people. Like her previous jumps, she felt disorientated at first although the nausea was worse than before, Anna managed to stand upright since her weight was supported by the other standing bodies of people on the street.

 

She was being sandwiched between a sweaty bulky man who had serious problem with cologne and a mother who was breastfeeding her infant in the middle of the crowd.

 

Obviously not 21st century…. Or is it?

 

Anna observed more carefully and got the fashion of clothes and carriages on the street were probably from early 20th century. The car still looked like half carriage with a machine, and that era when a tall hat was popular used among men.

 

"Excuse me sir," Anna tapped the bulky man with body odor problem beside her. "What year is it and… what is happening that the people fill the street?"

 

The man grunted, appraising Anna's clothes from head to toe. "You sound very strange and your clothes are… peculiar. You aren't from here, huh?"

 

"No, not really."

 

"It's 1914… Macedonia. Today is the day of the Archduke Frank Viridian visiting…" the rest of the man's words were swallowed by sudden cheers from the crowd. The line of fancy and antique carriages were coming out from a building.

 

"It's the duke and his wife." The old woman beside Anna shrieked. "Shame that woman! Ordinary born not deserving the title… poor the mighty Archduke."

 

Anna meanwhile was trying to grasp the situation around her. She felt like she had heard about Archduke Viridian somewhere. Not in school, the history subject in her school was too easy and not as whole as Anna liked.

 

"Viridian… Viridian…"

 

Then it hit Anna like a brick. The assassination of archduke Viridian, the one event that had triggered global war for the first time in mankind history.

 

And Anna had landed right on the middle of it.

 

If only she had read more about the details of the event. She could've known about the first bomb that exploded only 10 minutes since the group of the carriages emerged.

 

So when the street was suddenly exploded and Anna's world was filled by chaos for countless time in her birthday… Anna ran like hell.

 

Unknowing of her, she made another jump.

 

.

 

France - 1425

 

Usually when she made a jump from the past, she would've ended up back to her own timeline. However, this time, it wasn't the case. She found herself landed on another time in the past. She had immediately known it when she saw a plain garden with stony building style and people dressed very… strange.

 

There were no carriages, mostly horses and wood carts. Anna swore she also had spotted a soldier with complete armor set faraway from she was standing. The wooden fence around the garden and very fresh air she was breathing in were sign that she was no near in industrialization age.

 

She turned her gaze from the vague view of civilization to the sound of some things dropped.

 

A girl dressed on what Anna could say as a rag in modern time was looking at her with fascination in her eyes. Anna looked down to the things that the girl had dropped. Mostly they were tools to farm, but they made of woods, not iron or higher quality of metals. On the girl's other hand, there was a bundle of wool, the only thing she hadn't dropped in possession.

 

The girl seemed only a bit older than herself but she was so thin that Anna felt bad.

 

"Uhm… hello?" Anna tried first.

 

The other girl opened her mouth, or more like dropping her jaw in awe. Her shocked eyes were locked onto Anna's figure, mostly on her clothes.

 

Then she talked or ranting, or yelling, the point was, Anna didn't understand since it came as gibberish to her.

 

"Excuse me… what?" The girl's language sounded foreign to her. If Anna had landed so far back to the past, she wasn't sure she could understand the old language at this time.

 

"I said, you are a girl yet you are wearing man's suit!" The girl replied. Although her words had funny thick edge around it, Anna could understand her well.

 

Anna blinked. She was only gotten gibberish few seconds ago, and now suddenly the girl had spoken in her language.

 

Anna wasted no time to ponder. The girl in front of her was panic upon seeing her wearing trousers. She also realized that she was still wearing the researcher's white coat.

 

"I am not from here." Anna shrugged simply.

 

"Where are you from?"

 

"Far…" Anna whispered.

 

"Are you from the far-east?! But you are fair like the rest of us."

 

"No. Farther than that. Anyway… I am Anna." Better to steer the topic about her origin.

 

"Jeanne." She introduced herself with a polite smile.

 

"Jeanne, may I know what year is today? And, what city we are in?" Anna asked carefully.

 

"… the year is 1425 after the resurrection and here is Domremy, Kingdom of France."

 

Anna's mind went to the latest history book she had heard. The name of the place wasn't entirely unheard of but the year was too far back in the past. She wasn't sure that she had covered chapters in 15th century.

 

"Anna…" Jeanne called her uncertainly. "Are you perhaps… a noble-lady?"

 

Anna shook her head, snorting "No…"

 

"Your attire is so soft. Not ever had I touch a material this soft… and yours is very fair, very beautiful!"

 

Anna had blushed upon the sincere comment from the oblivious 15th century girl. Of course at this time they hadn't even reached renaissance yet… a woman with her built was considered as wealthy born.

 

Then again, the history was hitting her like a brick on the head. Anna had suddenly recalled about Domremy, a small city which was now called Domremy-la-pucelle…

 

"What is your last name?" Anna tilted her head, waiting for a lifetime confirmation.

 

"I was born of Father Jacques D'arc and Mother Isabelle Romee…"

 

This time, it was Anna's turn to do a jaw-dropping.

 

Right now, in front of her, was standing, the very famous young Joan D'arc…

 

"The one who would rally France and end the 100 years war?"

 

Jeanne frowned, "What-?"

 

Together with that realization, Anna was swept away again, by the flow of time.

 

.

 

The next jump had taken all the energy off her. She wasn't home yet and Anna had no idea how many times she had to jump in order to go back to her own time-line. Unlike her previous jumps, she hadn't had chance to stay long and she hadn't seen Elsa yet.

 

The past tasted a little bland without her. It was odd that she had actually met the platinum blond vampire few hours ago and yet, here she was, feeling like they were separated in one thousand years distance.

 

Perhaps they were, but Elsa's words had been ringing inside her head. 'I'll always find you…'

 

It had been two jumps and there was no Elsa.

 

The red-head time-traveler swallowed her disappointment, a bitter taste in her tongue and bile in her throat.

 

This time she wasn't bothered to check her surroundings. She landed on a wide plain of grass. There were no trees and as far her eyes could see, there were only green ahead of her.

 

So Anna walked into random direction.

 

She had been walking for a while when her eyes saw shadows looming in horizon. Rather than black, the shadows were blue and spread along the tundra. The massive spread shadows were coming closer and in a minute time, acknowledgement dawned in Anna's head.

 

Those are Empire troops… hundreds… no, thousand of them. Soldiers in horses, carriages, most of them on feet carrying various kinds of weapons. They were wearing leather and iron body armor, so Anna had no need to worry of flying bullets. But still…

 

She needed to get away from there.

 

Anna turned around and headed to the opposite direction. It was impossible to outrun an army. However, if she could find a hole, a cave, somewhere to hide or better, some time she could jump in, it would've been great.

 

There was none, and Anna had no choice but to do what she does best. Run.

 

It had been a short run when she encountered the looming red shadows containing another troops possibly from another kingdom, standing by just below the hill. The red and yellow symbol was obviously the proud insignia of Corona noble family. It had been elementary when Arendelle's public school system had required their young generation to study and memorize each symbols representing the countries around Arendelle.

 

Anna took a deep breath. If the red was from Corona noble family, the other blue troops were undoubtedly Arendelle's. The event that was about to happen around Anna was called the Great Plainwhite battle; one of series of famous battles in Arendelle's civil war history.

 

In this battle, the Arendelle's troop had taken easy victory albeit a surprise attack that Corona had arranged in advance.

 

Anna recited the history book in her school. The battles had been very popular among the Arendelle's since the epic victory had been adapted to several fictions and movies in the country.

 

So, Anna just needed to get away from there and back to her own time. Afterall, interfering with history was an idiotic thing to do.

 

Something felt wrong however.

 

From her vantage point, it was clear that Corona's army had perfectly arranged strategy to trap the Arendelle's. The blindside position under the valley, a big rift that had been dug to trap the enemy's horses troop, flame throwers… and very advantage positions.

 

Anna had played too many RPG war games with her father that she understood how the war would play out to oblivious Arendelle's troop.

 

According to the history, Arendelle's had known about the Corona's strategy that they had been able to form a counter-attack impressively.

 

However, Anna didn't see any formation despite boring countless lines of attack Arendelle was marching in.

 

If the game wasn't wrong, the Arendelle was supposed to make circular formation to cover all of the area around the family. Trapping the trap into a cage. The war tactic had been source of praise and study for centuries. One of the study had mentioned that the Arendelle's victory had been simply because of a divine intervention.

 

Anna bit her lip nervously after an hour passed and there was no change of formation from the Arendelle's troop. They would reach the valley in less than 4 hours time… they would lose.

 

Unless she interfered.

 

The battle of Whiteplain had been led by Arendelle's most well-known General in history.

 

An arrow whizzed pass through her head. Anna lowered her head and then rolled her body forward to avoid second arrow that had just barely missed her leg.

 

Anna should have known better to jump in the middle of an army. The arrows were blue, which meant that they had come from Arendelle's side.

 

Anna stopped her track and lifted both her hands on the air. One thing her father had taught from countless RPG game and battle-action game was that to never attack the unarmed man. The act wouldn't be considered an honorable thing to do.

 

She waved her hands, showing that she wasn't a threat.

 

However third arrow came flying at her.

 

"Crap!" Anna fell backward while the arrow had landed on the ground between her legs. "I am not enemies!" She yelled out.

 

Real life was far different than a game and hundred more times terrifying.

 

Anna gathered herself, swallowing her fear and got up on both of her feet.

 

There was no fourth arrow following after that. Instead, a figure with complete set of armor and leather had emerged from the troop line and walking toward her. The armored person seemed different than the rest. The armor had blue robe seeped through the neck area between the helmet and shoulder plate.

 

Despite the weight of metal armor, the soldier was walking like it had weighed nothing. No, not walking, the soldier was running, so fast that Anna had taken step back when suddenly the soldier as if had materialized in front of her.

 

Anna had a defensive stance although she was not sure she could outrun the armored soldier.

 

"What are you doing here?" the soldier asked. A woman.

 

Anna knew the voice. It had only been moments ago she had heard the husky feminine voice.

 

The soldier brought up her hand and pulled up the iron helmet which had been covering her head and face. At once, locks of fiery red-hair revealed, as bright as the summer of Arendelle. When Anna got a clear view of The Chief Police's face, she could do nothing but hang open her mouth in shock.

 

There was something different about Merida Dunbroch in this timeline. Last time Anna met her, the Chief always had her shit-eating grin that perked up whenever she was around. This female soldier in front of Anna, in the other hand had powerful aura that no one would've bent their knees because simply of their proximity.

 

"I repeat. What do you think you are doing, lass? This is a battlefield. You have no business here."

 

Anna narrowed her eyes. The face, the eyes, the figure, all of them was Merida Dunbroch. However, her skin color was wrong. It was tanner, less paler and…

 

Anna braved herself and went to touch Merida's cheek.

 

Warm.

 

The soldier immediately swatted away Anna's little hand with a grunt. She looked annoyed and was about to lash out when Anna winced, taking a step back out of fear.

 

That moment, the soldier had never known why but something had tugged inside her chest.

 

"Don't you ever touch me again." Merida warned but with tad softer tone. "Follow me, lass."

 

Of course that time a realization had hit her again. The famous General of Arendelle that had conquered Corona noble family troop in less than a year and had ended the long civil war on Arendelle's land.

 

General Dunbroch.

 

She had to get to remember about important things faster.

 

"Are you from Corona, lass?" Merida asked. They arrived on Arendelle's camp few moments later. Countless make-shift tents from rags, bonfires, clings of metals, and men shouting at each other had blinded and deafened her senses for a moment.

 

"No." Anna croaked, coughing a little when smokes of bonfire engulfed her face.

 

"I guess so. Your clothes is odd and it is clear as day that you a girl yet what you are wearing is man's trouser…" Merida tugged her to another direction when there were less smokes and quiet crowd. "You know that if you are from Corona, I have to kill ya, right?"

 

Anna gulped audibly.

 

Merida laughed, a snippet of her future version slipped in. "It was a joke."

 

Not funny for this timeline. Anna made a mental note.

 

"So, where are you from?" a familiar question was asked. Anna needed to build scenario to prepare her for type questions like that.

 

"Far away from here."

 

"I doubt it, lass. You are not equipped for long distance travel." Merida cheekily pointed out. They are now standing on a clearing when only one big tent remained, separated with the others soldier's tents.

 

"… Look, I'm not an enemy. I knew enough that beyond this clearing and valley, Corona had set up a clever ambush for your party."

 

Merida's playful expression changed while her jaw clenched. The stiff stance formed as her hand clutched tightly on the hilt of her sword.

 

"They do not know our attack…" She whispered coldly. Although Anna wasn't sure if it had really been said to her or a way to convince herself.

 

"You can check if you don't believe me. I came here to warn you but you greet me with arrows."

 

Merida glanced at her, gritting her teeth, "trust me, lass… if had I aimed true you would not have been talking or breathing now."

 

The scary aura overwhelmed her again. Anna's knees threatened to buckle but the 11 years old time-traveler had held her stance. Her mother would've been proud if she had seen her now. Even Elsa perhaps would've cheered her on. After all General Dunbroch hadn't been known for her mercy and kindness.

 

"At this rate, your army would be defeated… it will be a big hit as they would trap you in the valley between the cliffs. Is that what you want?"

 

Anna's speech was cut off when the General's hand shut her mouth with her hand.

 

The warm human hand.

 

Anna struggled to get away first but it was futile as The General's strength was unbelievably a brute… and the woman hadn't even been a vampire yet.

 

"Gather the captains in my tent! Quick!" Merida shouted an order to a soldier in passing while she half dragging the little girl toward her tent.

 

She released Anna when it was only two of them left inside the tent.

 

Anna was pouting, she wished she had bigger body and stronger. Being dragged away, lifted and carried like a sack of potato were not her favorite part.

 

She didn't mind if it was Elsa, though.

 

Wait, what?

 

"Here." Merida opened a big scroll that had been lying on a big circular wooden table. "Tell me the position of the ambush."

 

Anna blinked. The map was a tad different than the Arendelle's map she had learnt from school. It was more detailed but covered only smaller plains than the current Arrendelle.

 

For the next hour, the young time-traveler spent her time with The General about the possibility of the ambush movement.

 

They were joined by Arendelle's captains in the next hour. They had confirmed about the ambusher troop position and all of it had been exactly like Anna had pointed out.

 

The discussion had become more focused on the strategy to counter attack the ambush. The adults in the room were now barely noticing the little girl who had been watching and listening their discussion in the corner of the room.

 

There were several opinions about retreating – which The General had clearly rejected – and stalling, and defensive maneuver. Their discussion heated on next candle hour as the captains and the General never reached an agreement.

 

"General, pardon me, but their number, position, and clever preparation had left us at disadvantage. We cannot risk that they possibly have more tricks in their sleeve." One of the captains said.

 

Merida snorted, "that's your problem, Captain. You cannot risk! And you call yourself a soldier of the Queen?!"

 

It was turning bad to worse to the point that one of the captains had pulled his sword and aimed an attack for the General.

 

Real war was way more complicated than a game. Witnessing with her own eyes how the sharp heavy metals were drawn effortlessly and swung dangerously with a deafening shout followed…

 

It was too much for her 11 years old.

 

Something inside her snapped.

 

She jumped from her seat in the corner and bulldozed her way to the angry captain. She threw her little body at his direction, knocking him off his balance.

 

The iron armored suit sure was very hard and it was hurt like hell when her flesh met the metal armor.

 

It worked though. The captain fell on his ass and she had gained everyone's attention in the room.

 

The captains looked shock at a little girl who had managed knocking off a royal captain of Arendelle off his feet with one body shove.

 

When Anna's gaze met The General's though, she was encountered with pure hot fury. The crushing aura was back and Anna couldn't help but cowered under Merida's gaze.

 

The general at once marched passed Anna and gave the troublesome captain a crunching punch on the face. "That's for insubordination. You are dismissed." The captain was chased away with a kick from Merida.

 

The source of trouble had been taken care of, the General was now facing at the secondary problem.

 

"What do you think you are doing, foolish lass!" The General swung her hand. Anna had thought that Merida would've hit her so she closed her eyes, ready for a hurtful impact.

 

But instead, she was being lifted from her feet and seated on the General's chair, the biggest chair in the room.

 

"You fool!" Merida mumbled between her hisses. With a hard pull, she rolled up Anna's sleeve and uncovered a forming bruised along the girl's arm. Anna winced, already feeling the soreness of her spontaneous decision.

 

The General released a sigh after inspecting Anna's injury, "Nothing's broken. You deserve the soreness, lass. That's what ya' get for being a daft."

 

"I'm not a daft!" Anna defiantly shouted back, pulling her arm from The General's hold. Her gaze was now moving from the Arendelle's map and the rest of troop's captains. The angry captain had been dismissed.

 

"You guys have been dragging this too long and too much thinking. You have got the important information about the ambush, it is perfect as now, and the enemies have no idea about our knowledge." Anna was too short to look up from the table so she stood up on the chair.

 

"Gentlemen…" Anna mentioned to the captain of the room, "And… Lady…" Her gaze flickered momentarily at Merida.

 

"I have a proposition about a strategy."

 

The time-traveler had been watching from the sideline behind the arrows troop to the victory of Arendelle's troop. In this timeline, Anna had learnt one thing. She could interfere with a timeline and gave her direct influence to the event.

 

It was because of her that history of the Battle of Whiteplain had been of what it was supposed to be.

 

What if she had decided to not to interfere? Would history change?

 

Time is a being.

 

If it truly is, time really knew her well.

 

"Do me a favor?" At that time, the General had been back from the battle. A little worse to wear but she had her usual shit-eating grin after a big victory. That night, the General was offering her for escorting her back to her hometown.

 

"What is it, lass?" The General raised her eyebrow.

 

"Never mention about my doing in this battle. I hate attention." The young time-traveler reasoned.

 

The General went quiet, "You are truly one of a kind, lass. What is your name?"

 

Anna felt the pull, she saw familiar blue light flashing her vision.

 

"We will meet again."

 

She wished this time, it would take her home.

 

.

 

The fourth time Anna didn't bother to land gracefully. She fell on hard cobble stones as her gaze was focused on poorly gas-lit street lamp.

 

That fact only, had brought her back to 19th century.

 

Anna was lying for few minutes as her head was still pounding and her body was too hurt to move. However, she couldn't just keep lying around on 19th century pavement road. Only God knows what substances and germs the street had.

 

So Anna forced herself to get up.

 

The world spun and the dizziness worsening. She saw a red droplet fell onto her lap and frowned.

 

Her nose was bleeding.

 

Her hand immediately went to cover her nose and to stop the flow of the blood. Her luck had turned into the worst.

 

As she tilted her head up to control the blood flow from her nose, she saw the starry night view of 18th century. At this time period, the sky was so clear that even she could see Milky Way and big dipper in the middle of City Street.

 

Her gaze was blocked as a face came into her view. Under the poorly lit street lamp, Anna recognized the platinum blond hair first. A pair of cold arms comfortably settled circling Anna's waist.

 

"Hello, my angel. I find you." Elsa smiled softly and Anna thought about how beautiful Elsa's smile is, rather than the starry night sky. The beautiful sight then frowned, "you are bleeding." Elsa's voice held a heavy concern.

 

Anna responded with a wincing grin. The young time traveler sagged limply in Elsa's arms as the adrenaline from today's ordeal had at once left her. She was too exhausted and the relief to see Elsa was indescribable.

 

The time didn't take her home.

 

But Anna felt more in home than ever.

.


	5. No Jump: Victorian London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terror in London on the late of 19th century. It wasn't difficult for Anna to make a connection.
> 
> So when Elsa stepped into her room after the talk with Merida, the little time-traveler took her chance to confront the matter.
> 
> "The attack… is it Jack the Ripper?"

**_"The Victorian era was perhaps the last point in Western history when magic and science were allowed to coexist."_ **   
**_― Jonathan Auxier_ **

**_._ **

* * *

 

"No, Belle… I haven't slightest idea about her arrival today! It scared me greatly when I scented Anna's blood in the wind! I have checked the arrival dates in Anna's journal and today's date is not written."

 

"Perhaps she forgot to jot it down. As a time-traveler, she is quite busy you know…"

 

A snort followed Belle's statement.

 

"Oh, shut up, Merida. You are not helping. Our sire is having a moment here."

 

"The girl is fine, Elsa. I may have a hint about her previous visit though. The bruises on her arm and sides are… recognizable."

 

"You mean that you knew who had hurt her?" A growl and threatening hiss were noticeably in Elsa's voice.

 

"Not directly no. To be honest, it seems that Miss Time-Traveler here just made a visit to Great Plainwhite battle. Civil war… uhm… my battle." Merida's voice was cowering a little when Elsa's louder growl got more audibled.

 

"You haven't been turned yet at the time." A remarked statement came from Belle.

 

"No, not yet."

 

"What have you done, you, bulldog of woman!" a sound of chair being dragged across a wooden floor followed by a loud thud was heard.

 

"Hey! Don't throw a chair on me, Belle! I didn't do anything!"

 

"She was hurt when you were with her! That is enough reason to throw a chair on you. Consider it a favor, because Elsa wouldn't have stopped with simply a chair." Belle calmly pointed out, from the tone of her voice, she was a bit amused. "Don't tell me that she landed in the middle of a battlefield." A worried voice came from Belle. "She is only 11 years old!"

 

Elsa who had been quiet during Belle and Merida's bickering finally spoke. "No, I wouldn't have allowed it." A frustrated sigh came from Elsa. "She should've told me! She could've been killed!"

 

"Calm down ladies! That little fire cracker had been helping me in that battle. The great victory of Arendelle by divine intervention? It was her doing."

 

Both Belle and Elsa went quiet. Merida continued.

 

"At first I saw a lost little lass on the plain land. It was very odd and on that time of battle period, something odd was equal as suspicious thing. So I shot arrows to her…"

 

Screech of a chair was heard again, and Belle's loudly yell calling Elsa to stop strangling the fiery red-head vampire before she would truly decapitate Merida's head with her bare-hand was echoed. "No, I won't help your case Merida. You deserve it, you could've hurt Anna worse and that is absolute sin. Elsa, you must stop now, her neck is cracking!"

 

"You shot at my Anna?!" A frightening growl came from Elsa's throat that even made Belle and Merida flinch.

 

"I didn't know! I didn't aim right though. I would never kill a kid, no matter how merciless the history had made me be." Sound of Chinas breaking, glass smashing, growling and hissing were followed.

 

Belle let out an exasperated sigh since Merida could never help her own case with full-blown honesty in this rate.

 

Anna finally opened her eyes. She had been listening to the conversation between the three vampires. Truthfully, she wanted more sleep since her body felt like a log and half of her body was very sore. However, it seemed that the sleep was currently out of question.

 

"She is awake. Her heartbeat accelerates." Belle calmly said. It sounded like the brunette vampire hadn't made any serious effort to separate both the fighting vampires, despite her chiding little comments before.

 

The funny thing about wooden house in 19th century was that everyone could hear everyone even though they were in separate room. Anna barely blinked her sleepiness away when the door in her room opened and Elsa was on her side in flash.

 

"Good morning, my angel." With her cold hands, Elsa cradled Anna's head and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

 

That truly woke her up.

 

"How are you feeling, my dear?" Elsa gently put her hand on Anna's cheek, while her other hand was tilting the girl's head up to check any discomfort. "You suddenly passed out in my arms while blood coming out from your nose! I had never been so terrified…"

 

Anna felt suddenly guilty when she spotted her favorite pair of blue had glazed over, "I'm sorry."

 

"No, sweetie. Not your fault. Actually, Merida was telling us about how you have managed nasty bruises on your body."

 

"I heard you all." Anna smirked. The three Vampire ladies had done more smashing than talking.

 

Elsa looked a bit startled, surprised, as if Anna had busted her hand inside a jar of cookies.

 

Except that vampires didn't eat cookie. So, the scenario perhaps would have had more terrifying image than a jar of cookies.

 

"I- I wasn't in my right mind." Elsa said, chuckling nervously. Anna observed deeper. This side of Elsa, she hadn't seen yet. Uncertain, out-of-depth, while trying to justify her action. It was quite endearing.

 

"My first instinct is to protect you. So when she mentioned about taking a shot at you, I couldn't help it but attacked her. It was embarrassing… I am almost a thousand years old yet I cannot control my anger!"

 

"Does age have to do with any of that?" Anna tilted her head to get to see Elsa's face in better angle. It was a bad move since her world suddenly spun. Anna closed her eyes for sudden head rush.

 

As a vampire, miniscule action of human girl had never gone unnoticed. The platinum blond vampire had noticed Anna's discomfort. "You are still ill. I apologize I have interrupted your rest." Elsa said, worried. In her perspective, humans were very fragile creature. It had been unnerving to see a very young Anna lying hurt and broken while she couldn't do something about it.

 

"No."

 

"No?"

 

"You don't bother me. I've been missing you. Triple continuous jumps to the past yet I couldn't see you… I was…" Anna had been scared during her spontaneous jumping before she landed on this time period and reunited with Elsa. However, above all of her fear… "I was hoping to see you." She was longing for Elsa greatly.

 

Elsa's smile hadn't reached her eyes as her knuckles were brushing Anna's cheek over and over with a calming rhythm. "I'm sorry. I wasn't there."

 

"Well… you are here now." Anna liked the coldness on Elsa's hand. She held the coldness not letting go until the sleep claimed her once again.

 

"Yes, I am here." And Elsa stayed.

 

Next time Anna was awake, she found Elsa on her bedside while her hand hadn't moved an inch in Anna's grip. Elsa looked comfortably enough by sitting and stroking Anna's hair. An expression of pure joy reflected on her flawless face. Her eyes perked up more when Anna opened her eyes.

 

"Hungry?" Elsa motioned to a tray of food on the table beside the bed.

 

That reminded Anna that she had been famished after doing some jumps to the past. Her stomach protested by growling like a thunder.

 

Elsa laughed, "My poor angel. Let's get some food for you, oh… and we have chocolate pudding for dessert."

 

Hearing the word 'chocolate' had made Anna giddy and she couldn't wait until dessert.

 

Anna was eating and Elsa had offered to braid her hair.

 

Between the sound of Anna chewing her food and the clings of her spoon, Elsa spoke.

 

"When you were sleeping, Merida has told us the story of Great Plainwhite Battle."

 

Anna gritted her teeth. "Uhm… yeah. It was my first time to see a real war in person."

 

Elsa hummed a little, "It was undoubtedly very dangerous, Anna… and what were you thinking, slamming yourself to a grown up armored man? It was-"

 

"Foolish, I know. Merida scolded me."

 

"-Brave." Elsa continued her cut off speech. "Although I do not disagree with her opinion, but I think you are very brave. Careless… but brave." Anna could observe Elsa through the mirror on the wall that the platinum blond vampire was smiling with amused expression. "You are what you are, I cannot say you to not to do that kind of thing again."

 

"Really?" Normally people around her, especially adult would have scolded her and lectured her about being careless for dangerous thing. It made her feel like a toddler and Anna disliked it immensely.

 

"Yes, my dear. I have been trying to tone down your bleeding-heart-actions…. All of them I end up as a loser in trying."

 

Anna bit her lip, feeling bad. "Am I that bad?"

 

Elsa chuckled, "You'll be worse when you are older. By worse, I meant that you will try to help everyone every time if given a chance, which you have abundant because you literally have all the time in the world. You are different. You are still young and you have to be more careful in the future… whenever that is."

 

"That sounds handful of trouble."

 

"You are, darling. But you are my trouble." Elsa held the finished braid of Anna's red-hair. She admired it for a moment and inhaled Anna's scent deeply. When Anna glanced at Elsa's reflection through the mirror, the girl noticed how Elsa's blue eyes had darkened.

 

The mirror worked two ways since Elsa was able to see Anna's blushing face too.

 

"The older me…" Anna began quietly. "How is she like?"

 

Elsa smiled, "She is you… so, my everything and more."

 

At lunch Belle brought a thermometer to measure Anna's temperature.

 

"It's digital. I thought that thing is 21st century stuff." Anna frowned looking at the digital thermometer in Belle's hands.

 

"You gave it to me, saying that I would need it in near future. And that was two weeks ago. Now open your mouth."

 

Anna obeyed. It was weird to have a 21st device in her mouth while sitting on a bed in Victorian era.

 

Elsa frowned tentatively at the device, "Is it safe?"

 

"Of course. Our precious Anna guaranteed it herself. It keeps fascinated me how future device would develop very charmingly. Thank God I will live long enough to see that."

 

A ping was heard and Anna took off the thing out of her mouth. "You should've thanked Elsa, you know. For the long live…"

 

Belle raised an eyebrow while Elsa was grinning and giving a peck of kiss on Anna's cheek. "How adorable of you." Elsa murmured.

 

Belle shrugged and looked at the result, "Your temperature is 0.7 too high."

 

"Then I'm fine."

 

Belle shook her head, "No… mild fever. I hope you won't do any jump soon, young lady. Your body cannot handle it now."

 

"What do you mean?" Anna didn't understand Belle's words about doing any jump soon. "Why can't I jump now and go home?"

 

Belle exchanged glances with Elsa for a moment before returning her attention back to the girl on the bed. "I assume that you have jumped multiple times before Elsa found you last night?"

 

"Yes."

 

"How many until you get here?"

 

"Three." Anna replied, recounting the assassination, Joan D'arc, and Merida's civil war.

 

Elsa's hand on Anna's arm squeezed a little tighter followed by a low hiss.

 

Belle stared at Anna grimly. "That was too much. You were lucky that you only passed out with bleeding nose. You could've busted a blood vein."

 

"Wait, what?"

 

"Trips to the past, sailing through timeline and periods is an activity that taking a toll to your body. Despite your chemistry with the time itself, your physical-self only capable to exert so much of the trips. Doing multiple jumps without break is highly risky." Belle explained.

 

Anna processed the new information, beside her, Anna could still feel how tense Elsa was during Belle's explanation.

 

"But I can't control it. I have no idea when, where, and how I travel the past."

 

Belle smiled. She had been sitting on a seat in the corner of the room. It was weird how the brunette vampire would only approach her bed if necessary.

 

"You will in due time. That's what I have been researching. I doubt that I can help you now, but my future-self surely has made significant progress through a century."

 

Anna rolled up her eyes, "your future-self is annoying. She barely answers my questions."

 

"You are the impatient one." Belle pointed out.

 

Elsa cut their bantering with a question for Belle, "How Anna can control her ability in the mean time? You said that her body cannot handle another jump now."

 

"I'm lost at that problem. However, I can try one thing."

 

"What is it?"

 

"If Anna would allow me to see through her mind, all of her experience in past 24 hours… there I could at least identify the source of the problem and formulate a solution."

 

Anna suddenly laughed when Belle had finished her proposition. Elsa and Belle stared at her oddly.

 

"That was… I'm sorry, it's just the future-you never ask permission to look into my head. I had to memorize a period table, national anthem, and modern curses words so that you are out of my head." Anna snorted.

 

"So, the period table still holds on the future?" Belle asked.

 

"Curses words are bad, Anna." Chided Elsa amusingly.

 

"Am I that rude in the future? I wonder why…" Belle mumbled to herself. "Anyway… would you give me your permission, Anna? I promise it won't be long."

 

Anna shrugged, "go on. Although I warn you that my 24 hours experience hadn't been… usual."

 

Belle got up from her chair and walked purposefully toward the bed.

 

That moment, Elsa stood and raised her hand to prevent her to get any closer. "Be careful. Her mind is still young." The platinum blond vampire hissed dangerously.

 

"I will never hurt her, Elsa. Tone down your territorial instinct and let me do my job."

 

The conversation between both of them happened very quickly that Anna's human ears couldn't pick up any of their words.

 

Elsa reluctantly let go and now Belle was sitting directly in front of her. "Okay, Anna… now look at my eyes. I can read better when I see your eyes."

 

Then her eyes met with Belle's brown eyes.

 

Anna didn't feel a thing but a tingle on the back of her eyes. She blinked when Belle severed their connection. Looking at Belle's disturbed expression; it seemed that the brief connection had troubled the Professor more than herself.

 

"You have a very eventful birthday, I see." Belle offered a thin smile that didn't reach her eyes. The brunette professor exchanged glances with Elsa for a moment before returning her attention to the little girl in front of her. "You are truly one of a kind, young lady. I know that you are exceptional but… 11 years old and you have experienced so many…"

 

Anna grinned. Belle was saying it in simple version. "So… what do I do to not jump anytime soon?"

 

Elsa used that moment to pull Anna's body closer to her. The red-head didn't complain as she obediently snuggled more into Elsa's arms.

 

Belle shrugged, "you are already doing it."

 

Both Anna and Elsa threw Belle a puzzled look.

 

"If my assumption is correct, the last three jumps you did, there was no Elsa in it. That was the reason you keep jumping around the timeline. You stayed in the Plainwhite battle because… well, Merida was there. In short, she…" Belle pointed at Elsa's direction. "…keeps you grounded in a timeline."

 

Anna looked up at Elsa who was smirking, rather smugly. Today, Anna had found herself to see many sides of Elsa's expression.

 

"You said she had stayed in civil war because of Merida?" Elsa frowned at the almost-missed information.

 

"… You know very well that Anna has explained to us… we are by means connected to her. If she stays long enough in one timeline it will be because of us."

 

"I am connected to you, guys?" Anna quipped as if she had figured very exciting news.

 

"Yes, each of our time-line entangled with yours." Belle confirmed with a nod. "So, as long as you are with us and do not wish to make jump anywhere… I think you will stay. Do not worry, my dear, you will learn to control it in time." Belle made a pun lightly which Anna replied with a snort.

 

"I like this version of you better." Anna admitted.

 

"Is she treating you badly in the future?" Elsa asked playfully although only Belle knew that her sire had glanced at her direction with a mischievous threat.

 

Anna shook her head, "Professor Belle annoys me greatly because she treats me like a kid… but she has saved me and my mom from fire."

 

Belle was curious while Elsa was loosening her hold on Anna. "And what I was doing at that time?" Elsa asked. It was odd that it hadn't been the platinum blond vampire who rescued the time-traveler.

 

"You weren't there. Belle said you are close… but I haven't met you on my current timeline." Anna answered as if the fact had offended her greatly.

 

Elsa was perplexed while Belle was contemplating. What was happening in the future timeline that made Elsa leave her precious angel alone?

* * *

 

 

Two days Anna had stayed with the three vampires in Victorian London. Two days Anna was kept strictly on bed by both Elsa and Belle. Two days she had been in company of Elsa who had told her stories about the vampire's 900 years life-time.

 

Two days that made Anna almost at her wit's end of boredom.

 

"Why can't we go out and have fun?" Anna asked Elsa again. The later was in the middle of giving her hand-made snow globe a finishing touch. Inside the snow globe, Anna saw a snowy London complete with its Big Ben and Thames River with impressive detail.

 

"We are having fun." Elsa said calmly.

 

"Last time I was here, you took me to a candy shop." Anna pouted. Elsa did bring her some collections of chocolates and candies, but she wanted to step outside and venturing Victorian London Street.

 

"You just eat your sweets, Anna. I heard that too much sweet would be bad for human teeth. I like your tiny teeth."

 

Anna was shot down once again. She hid her flustered face under the pillows, at the same time, muffling her frustrated groan too.

 

Elsa noticed Anna's predicament and set aside the snow globe to reach for the little red-head, "Do you want to hear another story?"

 

"No. I'm bored. I am in Victorian London! At least I want to see the palace and the Queen." Anna scooted closer to Elsa despite her irritation to the vampire.

 

"You should say so, my little angel. We can arrange so that the Queen shall visit us."

 

Anna stared at Elsa as if she had just made odd hilarious joke. "You are kidding."

 

Elsa blinked, oblivious. "About what?"

 

"You said that the Queen will visit us by request."

 

"She would. She is an inspiring woman and you would surprise how easy to amuse her." Elsa smiled.

 

The way Elsa was describing the powerful British reign in this timeline period had vexed Anna to no end.

 

"You know the Queen?" Anna asked with accusing stare.

 

"Of course, she is interesting ruler, not as colorful as the French's reign, but I have an assumption that she would be one of remarkable rulers in history."

 

Anna shouldn't be surprised because the woman in front of her had experienced almost a thousand year life experience.

 

"Alright then." Anna sighed. "I don't want you dial the Queen's number… yet. I just want to get out."

 

"But Belle said you still have a fever…"

 

"0.2 differences than normal temperature is the same as healthy as a horse!"

 

Elsa's eyes twinkled, " _Mon ange_ , you are not a horse."

 

Anna felt that Elsa had baited her to stir away from the current topic. Anna was about to point it out as a retaliation comeback but then she heard a hinge of wooden door crashed downstairs. Anna was startled as the next millisecond, she was gathered by Elsa's protective arms.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slam that hard." A familiar husky voice said apologetically.

 

Elsa's arms on her loosened, "Merida… how many times we have to remind you to knock?"

 

"It's an emergency. There has been another attack."

 

Elsa stood up at once, her expression hardened when she glared at the fiery head vampire. "Say no more. I will meet you at the study."

 

The red-head girl was watching the two with curiosity. Elsa gave her a smile and a kiss on the forehead before excusing herself from the room. It was rare for Elsa to leave Anna's room as the past two days, the platinum blond vampire and Anna had been attached on the hips. Or so, Merida had mentioned.

 

As if on cue, not a minute later, Belle entered the room, replacing Elsa as Anna's companion. It was like a clockwork shift. Three of them taking turn to watch her though Anna found it to enjoy Elsa's company the most.

 

"So… what's this attack Merida said?" Anna didn't even bother to be subtle.

 

"Not your business, young lady. The older-you is enough to handle this." Belle said. The brunette professor took a seat on the couch and opened an old thick book on her lap.

 

Anna didn't know why but she felt hurt by Belle's comment.

 

"So… am I here? I mean, the older-me?"

 

Belle flipped a page, "No… you… uhm, she will steer clear for a while during your stay here. It's bad for time-stream to have two versions of you in one time-line."

 

"I bet you all miss her so much and cannot wait to send me back." Anna murmured.

 

She forgot that Belle was a vampire, who had super-hearing and mind-reading ability.

 

Belle closed her book, taking off her reading glasses and shifted her full attention to the girl on bed.

 

An uncharacteristic grin crossed the professor's face, "Are you jealous? You realize that you are insecure to the other-you, right?" Belle chuckled.

 

Anna's face felt like it was on fire, "NO. I'm not!" She denied quickly.

 

"Oh… you are truly adorable on this age." The chuckle became a full-blown laugh.

 

Anna pouted that Belle was now laughing at her expense. "I'm not jealous. It's a fact that I am a burden more for you now. The older-me sounds like way more capable…"

 

"Stop that, young lady. You are anything but a burden to us. Also… although I love your pout so much, you should stop that before it permanently etches on your face, my dear."

 

Anna's mouth hang open, thinking for a way to strike back Belle's comment.

 

"I know what you are thinking." Belle chipped.

 

"That's not fair!"

 

"It is fair when you are very under-appreciate yourself, Anna. Listen to me… you are very valuable and precious to us." Belle approached her and halted on Anna's bedside. "May I sit next to you?"

 

Anna didn't understand why Belle had bothered herself for permission but she shifted a bit to make room for Belle on her bed.

 

The professor seemed satisfied and settled close to the little time-traveler.

 

"I saw my future-self in your memory before…" Belle began. "At that time, I asked to you about faith…"

 

Anna recalled the event in laboratory, the event that had happened exactly before she was sent to triple jump on the past.

 

"For Elsa… you are her angel. For Merida, you are the divine intervention." Belle pointed out with a grin.

 

"But for me… you are my faith. You are always a priority."

 

Anna frowned at the familiar words.

 

"Therefore, stop chastising yourself. You are a time-traveler for Goddess's sake!" Belle's hand went to tuck a strand of red-hair back to the girl's ear.

 

Anna felt suddenly silly and stupid. What she had felt that she was jealous to her own self.

 

"I… thank you Belle."

 

"Never mind that, my dear."

 

* * *

 

Anna had caught some things during her two days stay. First, the year was 1888 in Victorian London. The paper Merida had been reading when she took a turn to watch her showed the date and the year. Second, apparently London was in the middle of terror because she could hear the yelling of paper-boys outside the street about terror in Whitechapel. Third, Merida had been agitated recently while Elsa and Belle were adamant to keep Anna inside her room and entertained the girl with random things. Merida had been trying to tell her something one time but the other two had cut her off and sent the fiery head vampire to some errand. Since that day, the shift was taken over fully by Elsa.

 

Anna's study in history of England hadn't gotten to the point of comprehensive yet. She barely memorized the important year and the name of the famous rulers.

 

Her father loved RPG games while her mother loved Noir films and detective shows.

 

Terror in London on the late of 19th century. It wasn't difficult for Anna to make a connection.

 

So when Elsa stepped into her room after the talk with Merida, the little time-traveler took her chance to confront the matter.

 

"The attack… is it Jack the Ripper?"

 

Anna's question almost sent the ever graceful vampire stumbled into the room.

 

Downstairs, Belle shouted with a melodic voice, "She knows!"

 

Merida followed, "Not me. The lass is smart! Who named the killer like that?!"

 

Elsa crossed her arms across her chest, looking more stressful by the second. "Anna-"

 

"How many people he has killed so far?"

 

Elsa bit her lip, "I won't tell you. You will not be involved with this horrid serial murderer."

 

Anna groaned, "Come on Elsa! He is very famous in the future! You know that I can help!"

 

"It's too dangerous!" Elsa replied firmly. "I knew that this would be your reaction. Belle and I had been trying to keep it from you. Whatever information you have about him, keep it to yourself, Anna. We cannot change the future."

 

"But if we know in advanced who and when he is going to kill, we can prevent that!"

 

"No, we can't." Elsa cut her off.

 

Anna never witnessed this side of Elsa who was having cold expression and biting tone.

 

"How many women he has killed?" Anna repeated the question.

 

"Four!" Merida's voice echoed from the downstairs. There was a loud growl and sound of furniture crashed which Anna guessed was coming from an enraged Belle.

 

Elsa's blue eyes were now conflicted as she fixed her stare at Anna.

 

"He will strike again, Elsa… we can help the next woman from being killed!"

 

"No." Elsa shook her head. "We cannot change the future… no matter how hard we try… you are still young, you do not understand yet."

 

The girl jumped off the bed, "Whatever you think, I don't care. If there is a chance that I can stop someone from being killed, I'll take it. I have read the history, Elsa… the crime this man is doing had left plenty nightmares for me. I knew I shouldn't have read it, but curiosity got the best of me… that's why… this fifth murder I cannot let it happen."

 

Elsa's eyes softened when she reached out for the little time-traveler. "Have I mentioned that I never win this kind of argument?"

 

A loud crash which sounded like a chandelier being crashed was heard below. It seemed that Belle and Merida was still battling it out of their system.

 

"You did."

 

"I cannot bear to see you hurt, mon ange."

 

"I'll be careful. How about I relay some information to you that will help the Scotland Yard catch the killer? I will not have to step outside this brownstone." Anna suggested.

 

"It's not physical harm that I'm concerning about. Under my watch, no harm shall befall you." Elsa shook her head. "I fear of your heart to be broken as you fail to change the history."

 

"… I guess it will be more painful if I do not do anything." Anna said weakly. She imagined how despite the knowledge of the future, she still couldn't change the history course. Elsa had said it that they couldn't change the past. In theory and in countless fictions Anna had read and watched, it is indeed impossible to alter the timeline.

 

Anna hesitantly looked up at Elsa's eyes. There was clear determination in her favorite pair of blue. "We will do as you suggest… we will try to catch this slasher."

 

"Jack the Ripper." Anna corrected.

 

Elsa smiled, "I think The Strand would have agreed on that ingenious nickname."

 

The battle ensued downstairs had suddenly ceased as they both reached an agreement.

 

* * *

 

.

Anna stood in front of full-body mirror, observing her attire. She was wearing a long-sleeves buttoned up white shirt and a pair of dark boy-shorts. Her braided red-hair was hidden under a black common cap.

The three vampires dressed a 11 years-old Anna as a boy.

Merida snorted on her left, “you are too adorable to pass as a boy. This won’t work.”

On her right, Anna saw through the mirror of Belle smiling while looking at their reflection, “do not listen to that bulldog, you are quite dashing… as a little boy it is.” The brunette vampire patted her shoulder lightly.

“Why we dress her as a boy again?” Merida asked, reaching for Anna’s hat to tuck it more neatly.

“It is one thing to pose as single noble ladies, but people would be curious to see an unfamiliar red-haired little girl that suddenly lives with us.” Belle said.

Elsa joined them in sitting room with a tray of sweets and treats for Anna. Her blue eyes twinkled when she spotted the little time-traveler’s new attire. “That suits you well.”

Anna turned around; her face was flushing by the compliment.

Merida finished fussing Anna around, “trust me, lass. You won’t like gallivanting Victorian London in those hideous dresses. How unpractical and… too lacy.” Merida eyed Belle’s yellow Victorian flaps and Elsa’s deep blue dress. The former General didn’t care of social prejudice in this era and insisted to keep wearing pants for the sake of practicality.

Anna took a candy from the tray, throwing a disagreeable look to Merida, “but Elsa is so beautiful in that dress!”

Belle grinned while Merida looked defeated by that particular comment. Of course their time-traveler was really fond to their sire.

Elsa responded by gathering the little red-head into her arms and peck a brief kiss on Anna’s cheek. “Thank you, _mon ange_.”

“The lass has quite sweet mouth… and I’m not talking about candies in her mouth.” Merida murmured.

“If you all are done and ready, we should go, the carriage is ready. I told Frederick that we would visit him in an hour.” Belle chimed.

After that, Anna followed the three vampires, exiting the brownstone and into the street of Victorian London.

.

Anna’s first impression was how awful the unbearable stinky smell in the air. Last time she visited this era, she didn’t experience smells that so rotten, like a dead rat hanging on her nose.

“I know, kid. Imagine if you have super-senses in smelling.” Belle who was capable to read her mind said knowingly.

Anna winced and a surge of sympathy for the three filled her.

Merida chuckled, “not that bad when you are used to it. It is worse because the heat. Those corpses in Thames are perhaps floating to the surface.”

They were now inside a carriage. Elsa mentioned about a meeting with the Scotland Yard and a man named Frederick. The man usually would go to their brownstone instead but these past weeks, the man was so busy dealing the serial murderer in Whitechapel.

“Here.” Elsa handed her a simple white handkerchief. “It wouldn’t help much though.”

Anna accepted it gratefully and put it around her nose. It smelt of chocolate, it smelt of Elsa.

Way much better than dead rats and horse dungs.

Belle smiled, knowing Anna’s thinking.

“I still think that it would have been best for you to stay in the house.” Elsa who was observing the little girl releasing a relief sigh said.

Anna shrugged defiantly, “this killer’s identity is still a mystery even in my time. If the RPG games and classic shows my dad and mum love so much are true… Jack the Ripper’s story will end after his fifth victim.”

The playful expression in Merida’s face shifted into a grim one. Belle too, averted her gaze to a view outside the carriage. Elsa gently held Anna’s hand with her cold one.

They spent the rest of their journey in silence.

.

Frederick Abberline was a tall man with thick dark mustache and whiskers. From the man’s tired expression and his wrinkled uniform, Anna had a guess that the Scotland Yard’s investigation on Jack the Ripper didn’t experience any progress.

“Ladies.” The man greeted them in his office. On the way to Frederick’s office, they encountered group of officers running around and sorting letters and telegrams. The building was reek of sweat, rotten cheese, burning paper, and rusty iron.

Anna wondered why her nose had become so sensitive in the era with foulest smells.

“Inspector.” Belle replied.

Frederick’s eyes landed on the smallest person in the group, “Is the lad one of yours?” The inspector asked the three ladies who were immediately reacted with most animated expression he ever witnessed.

“No, unfortunately.” Belle replied politely.

“No way,” Merida answered with a snort.

“Yes.” Elsa calmly replied.

Upon the platinum-haired woman’s response, 4 heads turned to her direction. Elsa worriedly looking at Anna as the girl had rotated her neck too fast with a small pop.

“Not my intention to be rude, milady, but… you have a son?” Frederick asked one of the lovely women that hadn’t had a care to elaborate any further.

Elsa’s attention was now back to the man, “I beg your pardon? Oh my… no, I don’t have a son. Or children.”

“But you said that he is yours…?”

“Yes. MINE.” Elsa confirmed with a hiss and a sweet smile.

Belle cleared her throat loudly. “Frederick, we are here to help.” Hoping she could steer the topic and not have to explain about how the notorious Lady Elsa is a possessive vampire.

Like snapping out from a daydream, Frederick turned to Belle, “Ah yes… forgive me. At this point we are welcoming any kind of help. Please have a seat.”

The three women were a tight fit on a worn-out sofa in Frederick’s chair. Elsa initiatively pulled Anna to sit on her lap, silently grateful for the small couch.

“We are swamped by letters from people who are confessing to be the murderer. My men even have a nickname for this despicable killer… Jack the Ripper. I know, how pretentious! The press is having a feast about it.”

Anna caught how the three vampires were exchanging glances.

“Well, inspector.” Belle began when the tired rambling from Frederick had come to an end. “You know that we are an asset as Scotland Yard.”

Frederick nodded, “Yes! Lady Merida is always been a great help.”

Merida shot a smug smile to entire room, especially toward Anna.

“You know that we will not disclose about how we do what we do… that has been our agreement of our mutual relationship.”

There was obviously a hope in the Inspector’s eyes. “You have something about the ripper,”

“We do… yes. What we will share with you, please… be discreet and handle it with high caution. We believe that we have information about the ripper’s next victim.”

Years of cooperation with Frederick had built a strong trust from the three vampires and the man. It was rare to find an uncorrupted officer who didn’t mind to cooperate with women in their investigation. The man was always respectful and although old-fashioned, he was the most open-minded and unprejudiced man in Victorian London.

.

“Is it okay to change a time-line like this?” Anna asked by the time the four were on the way back home. “I learned in books and movies that it is forbidden to disrupt the past,”

Unable to bear seeing Anna’s sad expression, Elsa was about to say something when Belle had been faster to react.

“You underestimate time too much.” Belle said with a firm tone. “For a girl who carries the most compatible chemistry with time, you need to study more.” She shook her head while Elsa frowned at her direction, silently criticizing Belle’s choice of words. “You cannot change time so easily… only the time allows the change.”

Anna seemed to ponder upon Belle’s words for a moment. “Do you think it will allow this change? I don’t want anyone to be hurt…it has to be working.” The last words had come with less confidence.

Elsa took over, embracing the little time-traveler into a hug. Elsa knew too well that Anna’s heart had begun to crack.

She wished she could shield the younger girl from disappointment and sadness.

“… it has to be working…”

In her arms, her precious angel trembled.

.

The history remained unchanged.

The last murder had taken place despite the Scotland Yard’s effort to protect the potential next victim. Apparently, the woman, Miss Kelly had snuck out from the Bobbies watch to meet with her John in secret.

Her John was Jack the Ripper.

It was a tragedy and the press had given the poor Miss Kelly no mercy. They described with horrific detail about the murder and the state of her body. So far it was the worst and the most sadistic murder out of the five victims.

Merida tore the papers into pieces, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into a fireplace in the sitting room. There was a woeful atmosphere around the house and it had come from the room upstairs.

Two vampires were slumping on the chairs in sitting room while one was standing dutifully in front of a locked door who kept a crying little red-head.

With their unfortunate super-senses, three of them could hear each sobs; tear drops, and accelerating heartbeat from the crying girl.

Merida had no idea how the other two vampires were coping.

Belle was capable to hear Anna’s mind. She could’ve opted to not to, but currently she insisted to watch over the girl’s mind despite so many unpleasant thoughts inside. Merida knew how much Belle cared for the girl. Every sadness and unpleasant thought from Anna must’ve been like burning of fire to her.

Elsa was… well, it was Anna… and Merida couldn’t imagine the pain one possibly have, to witness the breaking heart of her other-half. Elsa had been standing by the door, waiting for a permission from the girl to enter. Since 2 hours ago.

To be a person who has the ability to roam the time… was a very blessing gift. However, the little girl was now possibly feeling entirely helpless because her gift had failed to save one life.

They couldn’t change the past.

“We cannot protect her from a harsh reality.” Merida said softly.

Belled nodded, “Unfortunately. I wish I could spare her the pain and disappointment.”

“Don’t we all?” Merida’s gaze went to a dancing flame in the fireplace. “This will make her stronger. It is impossible to save everyone.”

“She saved all of us.” Elsa’s voice could be heard by the two vampires from upstairs.

“… and more.” Belle added.

Merida smiled a crook smile, “and more…”

The sobs stopped and the three were met with complete silence from the room upstairs.

Elsa reacted quickly opening the locked door with one shove effortlessly. The other two were by her side in a flash.

They saw an empty bed with tears-stained pillow but no their little red-head girl.

“She has jumped.”

 


	6. Jump 8: Time-Jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girl regarded Anna with confused look for a little longer then to her creation snowman.
> 
> "I like Olaf." She agreed.
> 
> Anna observed the little girl in front of her. Never had she expected to meet the little version of the person she had been longing to meet.
> 
> "Elsa?"
> 
> The little girl snapped up her head, surprised that a stranger had known her name.

******"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations."**   
― Anaïs Nin ****   


* * *

.

In Arendelle, present day timeline, a freaking-out brunette vampire had been pacing around the laboratory room for whole 15 minutes. Her companion, a fiery-head vampire with a detective badge hanging on her uniform-belt, was standing rigid like a statue.

"That was an undocumented jump," Belle muttered.

"You have been saying that for the past 5 minutes. Calm down, Belle… I'm sure she will be back soon. What about the mysterious matter that blew up this facility?" Merida tried to get over her own nerve by concentrating on other matters.

Like Belle, she was worried. They had been meticulously following the girl's record of jumps to the past. Until this point, Anna's journal had mentioned about her first, second, and third jumps but this particular jump was unrecorded. It was something unplanned and for the added concern, it had happened exactly when the mysterious matter called the 'urgent matter' was exploding.

The explosion was minor but it had caused an unplanned jump for little Anna.

Belle had lost her shit in that second.

"I have asked them to bring it to our facility. This university cannot handle that unstable matter. I will take care of the paperwork later." Belle waved her hand, swatting away what she thought was an unimportant topic.

Anna had been Belle's priority ever since she awoke in her second life. Merida never asked why and Elsa seemed to get it already. After all, both had taken to different kinds of possessiveness when it came to Anna.

"Can you just stop pacing around?" Merida frowned. She perhaps didn't have ability to hear another's mind like Belle, but the atmosphere in the room and Belle's edgy feeling had begun to rub off on her.

"What if something goes wrong? What if she jumped into the middle of World War I? There are bullets…!" Belle shrieked when speaking out her horror. "She is 11 years old… if something happens, the paradox will come to be… I cannot even imagine. Time will not be so unkind…"

Merida had to admit that she could never understand this version of Belle, no matter how centuries long they have known each other.

"The lass is reckless but she does have some self-preservation. Maybe the lass intentionally left this jump out. Unwritten," Merida suggested half-heartedly.

However, her suggestion made a considerable impact on the brunette vampire. Belle was staring at her like she had been reciting a new formula that would change humankind for a better future.

Merida was baffled.

"You are right. Yes, of course! That little git has been plotting behind us. Of course!" For the first time in the horrifying quarter of an hour, Belle smiled. "You are brilliant, Merida!"

A compliment on her brilliancy from Belle was extremely rare. This was the first time in a century.

Before Belle could jump around and hugged the fiery-headed vampire, a soft thud was heard. Both vampires were immediately alarmed.

A tiny figure had just materialized and landed on the floor's laboratory. A little girl who was wearing short pants and black cap, hugging herself with both knees drawn to the chest and sobbing uncontrollably.

Anna was back.

Belle automatically sprung her feet toward the girl, Merida not far behind. Both exchanged glances in silent.

They knew what time period Anna had just left. Both understood why the older Anna had left it unwritten in her journal.

.

"Do we tell Elsa?" Merida whispered, trying not to accidentally waking the sleeping girl on the backseat.

Ever since her return, the little red-head had been crying her eyeballs out. The crying erupted harder when Belle embraced the girl into her arms. But Anna struggled with what little strength was left in her body. The girl had punched, kicked, and thrashed her body to fight against Belle's hands. She wanted to get away, she didn't want any of them went near her.

Or, that was what Belle had heard from Anna's mind.

Merida had been the one who manage to grab Anna's body and end the struggle. The fiery-head vampire had been witnessing how despite Anna's weak punches, Belle had a reaction as if someone had set fire to her body.

Vampires could not feel physical pain except by fire.

Then Merida understood that Belle was inside Anna's mind and Merida didn't envy it a little bit.

This was the first time Anna had experienced a broken heart over her inability to save someone. The first time she felt useless. The first time she learnt of harsh reality and how evil the worst humanity could be.

Anna's body went slack in her grip, totally exhausted from her jump and crying.

"Don't hurt her." Belle begged with pained voice, worrying that Merida had gripped Anna too hard.

"Never. Get out of her head if it's that painful." Merida eyed her friend carefully, knowing Belle would never leave Anna alone in her mental misery.

Belle shook her head firmly and turned around to lead them to the car.

So, now they were inside Belle's car with Merida driving and Belle accompanied sleeping Anna in the backseat.

Merida glanced through the rearview mirror, spotting how Belle carefully rested Anna's head on her lap.

"No, we cannot tell her." Belle replied softly. Her fingers were caressing Anna's hair in certain rhythm. A habit they all picked up for centuries in order to soothe their time-traveler.

"…she would've wanted to know." Merida drove uncharacteristically under the speed limit. The fiery-head vampire loved to go fast and since she was working in law-enforcement, speeding tickets weren't a problem anymore.

"She will drop everything, lose focus, and fail the mission. It is not her time yet." Belle hissed, glaring at Merida through the glass.

"…so we wait."

Belle nodded. "We have been waiting for centuries, and Elsa has been waiting for a thousand years. What are a few years more?"

Merida shrugged. "Alright. You are the boss."

Belle rolled her eyes. "I'm not anyone's boss."

Merida faked a gasp. "Don't tell me you've never realized how bossy you are for the past hundred years?!"

So, they were back to bantering. Belle would always win though since she was the smarter one.

"Shut your trap. You will wake her up." Belle chided.

And compliantly, Merida was silent for the rest of their journey.

.

The next day, Anna woke up with swollen and reddened eyes. She felt funny when she touched her face and found how puffy her entire face had become.

It took her 3 minutes to recall her entire experience that had happened during her 11th birthday.

It took her another 3 minutes to make sure that she hadn't been in another timeline and convinced when her hands clutched her teddy bear.

It took her seconds to get back to her sullen mood when recalling the last jump experience.

"Morning, sunshine."

Anna looked up, her father was smiling through the half-opened bedroom door. He carried a tray with breakfast, all of it were her favorites.

Then it hit her full-force. She missed her family so much.

Another wave of tears threatened to break down her swollen eyes.

Her father walked to her bed, setting down the tray on the desk and climbed up to the bed to comfort his only daughter. "It's alright. I am sorry you had to experience that in your birthday…"

Anna smelled home, she snuggled more into her father's arms. "It was awful, dad…" Anna meant about the historical assassination, civil war, and terrifyingly unstoppable serial murders in Victorian-London. The world is a scary place to live.

"I know, darling. Your mother is okay. She just got home this morning. I cannot imagine that I almost lost you both in that fire yesterday…"

Wait, what?

Anna loosened up and looked upward to her father's concern eyes. "What…?"

"The fire in your mother's workplace, sweetheart. It was awful. I knew it when a fireman called my office and I… I thought I've lost both of you… never scare me like that again… although recently you have been attracting trouble, young lady. I'm just thankful you are alright."

Anna blinked. She forgot about the fire. So much had happened in a day, so much jumps she had experienced in a day that she had lost track of time.

Jumps.

A surge of hatred and anger began to replace her sadness.

What use of jumping to the past if the only things she sees are misery and evil?

Anna hated it.

She didn't want to jump anymore. Screw the past.

.

After that day, Anna's behavior had taken drastic changes. Before, the girl was quiet and prefer books than outdoor exercise, but after her 11th birthday Anna had become more withdrawn.

Afterschool she would go directly to her room, finish homework and reading any books she could find. The teachers in Anna's school spoke of their concern about the girl's introvert behavior. Overall she was a good kid and her grades were above excellent, however she would only speak if necessary and never willingly join any social activities like the other kids her age.

Her father blamed the fire.

Her mother blamed herself.

Anna blamed the blasted time.

There was a shift in the family. It wasn't only their daughter, but her father and mother could feel the shift in their dynamic. There was no playing video games together anymore. Her mother would spend the majority of her day in the lab, never taking any chance to bring her daughter to work anymore. The father had been trying to picking up the pieces of his family to no avail.

Their routine became like clockwork. Laughter was strained. Family time was awkward. They were drifting apart.

It was 3 months after the problematic birthday when Anna received a letter.

A familiar letter on her desk in her bedroom with familiar doodles on the edge of the blue paper.

A letter that said,

_Get over it. Learn to swim, you dolt. Grow up._

Anna crumpled the letter and threw it to the corner of her room.

However, the next day the same letter with same message turned up again out of nowhere.

Anna did like last time. Crumpled it up and threw it away to the corner.

This thing happened for weeks and the corner of her room now was full of crumpled papers with the same message. So often Anna read it that she could spell it out of her head.

_Get over it._

Shut up.

_Learn to swim._

I don't like sports.

_Grow up._

I am 2 inches taller than last summer.

A message from her older-self that Anna found as annoying as hell.

Until one day the blue paper had different message written on it.

_It is no wonder Elsa never sees you in this time period._

That surprisingly hurt her deeply. Anna was angry with her older-self. Is it possible to hate the future version of herself?

She hated her ability to travel to the past.

But she didn't hate Elsa. She couldn't.

The platinum blond vampire was the best thing in Anna's life.

Anna huffed, she was about to crumple the paper again and threw it to the usual spot.

But she couldn't.

Anna straightened the blue paper on her hand, her finger went to trace Elsa's name carefully.

Elsa.

Anna found herself unable to throw away anything with Elsa's name on it.

Instead she walked to her desk and opened the drawer. Beneath it, her drawer possessed a hidden compartment where Anna would keep her most prized possession inside.

The rose sculpture made out of ice from Elsa that she had received as her 11th birthday present.

The coldness of the frozen flower brought certain nostalgic feeling for Anna. Her mind went to the pair of hands which possessed familiar coldness.

Strangely enough, she felt warmth.

Anna missed her.

.

A year later, Anna didn't do any jumps.

However, the annoying letters kept coming to her desk. After she dutifully had taken swimming lessons (her father was a little brightened up upon mentioning his daughter's interest of sports), the letters continued telling her about what she needed to do in her life.

_Take a fencing lesson, not ballet. Never ballet._

Why in the world she need fencing lessons?

_Ask your mother for a hair straightener, our hair is awful in the morning without it._

What is a hair straightener?

_Buy new warmer coats and pants. Make sure they are red._

What's wrong with the clothes I already have?

_Stock up your chocolate stash._

I did.

_Time to stow away the teddy bear, sweetheart_ (this was the first time the letter sounded so kind that Anna suspected it wasn't her writing. Anna was fully certain that Elsa was the one who had written it).

It was like a chore or grocery list but Anna had a feeling that it was necessary to comply.

Ever since she decided to follow the letters' instructions, Anna had opened up herself a little more. She would agree to play video-game with her dad on the weekends and shopping with her mother on her mother's day off.

She gained a friend in school. It was a huge step up.

The boy was the same age with her and he was a little dense (her father disagreed and said that the boy is too sensitive therefore he has managed befriended her) and big. However, he had gentle eyes and a friendly manner. He would offer to join with her in library and they would discuss about random things – from stories, homework, and hobbies – and Anna found a friend with same interests as her.

History.

"You know that in the 16th century, Arendelle had a princess named Anna?" The boy asked. "She was the only daughter of Great King David and cousin of Olaf the First?"

Anna was nose deep in her encyclopedia. She lowered down the book to look at her friend. "I knew." She huffed. He should've said something more challenging.

"May I call you princess?" The boy asked again.

This time Anna hurled the encyclopedia in her hands toward the boy.

He dodged it.

"No way!"

"Princess!" The boy cooed, he was totally excited to get new ammunition to tease his new friend.

"Shut it, Kristoff!"

"As you wish… princess!"

Anna disliked his name-calling.

But surprisingly she didn't hate him.

He had wrong shade of blond, his eyes weren't blue, and he was… a he.

But Anna felt calmer whenever Kristoff was around.

He took a considerably short time to gain the title of Anna's best friend.

.

It was winter holiday when the two were holed up in the city's library to finish their school history project. The teacher assigned an essay about the most interesting event in 19th century.

"What's your essay is about?" Kristoff asked, very curious about the thick papers in Anna's desk.

"19th century Arendelle," Anna murmured quietly.

"Do we have some awesome events in that century? Our nation was quite uneventful… Britain on the other hand… had a notorious killer in that century! Jack the Ripper! I am writing about him," Kristoff said excitedly.

Anna snapped her pencil in two.

Kristoff winced, hearing the crunching sound and eyeing the broken pencil that was now lying on the library floor.

"Anna?"

His friend looked a bit scary and this was his first time to witness the upset Anna Summers. Had he said something wrong?

"I- I have to go home." In a flash, Anna gathered her things, threw all of it in into her backpack. "See you in school."

Kristoff hadn't seen her for the rest of the winter holiday.

.

"If you could travel back in time, what era would you visit?" Kristoff was reading a certain question in some magazine aloud. Anna tried her hardest to appear uninterested.

"What do you think, Anna? You are more of a history nerd than I am…"

"… I would not go anywhere. I would stay in the present." Anna shrugged.

"What?! You have a cool power and you won't use it?"

Anna narrowed her eyes, didn't like where their conversation was going. "The past is designed as a lesson. Not some site to visit or re-enact…"

Kristoff thankfully didn't press the topic any further. "You have the point… still, I would punch someone if I could shake Shakespeare's hands…"

Anna stared at him oddly. "You hate literature. You slept through the entire Hamlet chapter."

Kristoff grinned. "That's why I said punch…"

"Haha…" Anna wasn't amused.

.

Seasons went by and Anna's middle school days had come to an end. After her graduation, her father offered her to move back to their hometown.

But Anna just found a friend and Kristoff was going to a public high school in this city. Meanwhile, Anna knew well that her father had been commuting in last 3 years due to the distance of his workplace and home. Now that her mother had moved to another university that was closer to their hometown, she was left in a crossroad.

Her mother noticed her dilemma and offered a second offer.

A dormitory school.

There was a famous private school belonged to the former Royal Family of Arendelle in the city. It was one of the top schools in the country and with Anna's grades, her parents were very confident that the school board would gladly accept their brilliant though a little nerdy daughter.

Anna knew of the school. How could she not? The school was established on 19th century near the castle grounds of the Royal Palace. The building and the land were as ancient as the history of Arendelle's Royal Family itself. Some people joked about going to that school in a princess costume and pumpkin carriage when Halloween came.

"But- I don't think that school is for me…" Anna said hesitantly. She had expected to go to some public high school in the area to complete her education.

"Nonsense, dear. Your last homeroom teacher told your father and I about your accomplished achievements in class. You have a brilliant mind. Your assignments, I have to quote his words: 'your daughter's assignment regarding world history is very thorough and somewhat impeccable. It seems your daughter has great interest regarding history, facts, and social studies. But she looks like she is holding herself back in order to not stand out among her peers.' he said."

Anna was busted by her homeroom teacher.

"This school has everything, Anna. And dormitories! We will not be worried to leave you here by yourself and you still can meet that boyfriend of yours." Her mother winked.

"Kristoff is not my boyfriend, mom!" Anna yelled for the countless time her mother spoke about her best friend.

"Anna is right, Cass, that little boy is not my daughter's boyfriend. He is too… bulky." Her father said, half-fuming. No one would date his 14 years old daughter. No one.

"The boy is sweet, Dave. Stop talking nonsense! Anyway, we should start your enrollment today, there are many things to take care of!"

With that, Anna's high school life had been decided.

* * *

.

.

Anna woke up to see a blue paper she hadn't received for a while.

_Bring an extra jacket in your bag, always._

But it's summer!

At the end of the month, her parents were taking her to the school to complete the rest of the paperwork and Anna's move into her room in the dormitory. Anna had found out in last minute that she had gotten a scholarship due to her remarkable grades and several recommendation letters from her teachers in middle school.

She was given the school books and uniforms. The school uniform was a standard white shirt with the school crest on the chest (Arendelle's Royal Famiy crest is an ice blue eagle thriving on top of a white cross and olive branch), knee-length blue plaid skirt, and tie the same color as the skirt. The winter uniform was provided with a black blazer and again, the Royal crest was embedded on the front.

Her mother insisted Anna to try on the uniform and then took several pictures for the family's personal collection. Her father never stopped taking pictures of some parts of the ancient building. If Anna hadn't known better, she felt like walking into a museum disguised as a castle.

Her curiosity was piqued.

So when the friendly-looking receptionist handed her the school pamphlets and written regulations, Anna decided to read it while waiting her parents finishing some administration papers.

Her mother persuaded her to go and look around the school ground in advance, considering the school would start in early September, two days from now.

Anna was right about the school building.

She felt like she was in Hogwarts.

Arendelle Private High School was established in 1824 by King Olaf the second in order to give equal chance for people of Arendelle in terms of education and knowledge. The school was the first academic institution that accepted various children from across Arendelle without regards to social class, gender, and wealth.

Anna was reading the school pamphlet without paying attention two where she was walking.

So, she wasn't aware how the school building began to blur then shift into a winter forest.

When she noticed the dropping temperature, Anna dropped her pamphlet.

_No._

Anna frantically went to the way she came from. There was no sign of any building as long as her eyes could see.

Besides, it was summer.

The chill went through her body as she now registered the freezing cold air.

It had been 3 years.

Anna almost forgot how it felt. At the least of expected always.

Her breath puffed as a thick white fog. Her mind wandered to the letter on her desk this morning.

She did bring an extra jacket.

Anna hurriedly took off her backpack and pulled out a jacket and her pants from it. She was lucky that she brought her change of clothes with her since she felt too uncomfortable to wander around an unfamiliar place in her new uniform.

She hurled her fashion sense out of the window when she just carelessly put her pants on top of her skirt. She put on her shirt on top of her uniform and bundled up last with her favorite maroon jacket.

And she was still freezing.

So, Anna decided to walk around. If she did nothing, she would die freezing.

It was all white snow. Even Anna was unable to differentiate the trees. The sky wouldn't help since it was cloudy with promise of another wave of snowfall soon. It was getting harder to walk in sneakers as the snow was almost drowning her ankles. Her socks had completely soaked through.

"Great! You could've mentioned extra boots and warm coats for blizzard in the note!" Anna muttered frustratingly toward her future-self. She was in no way prepared for this kind of jump.

She should jump back. Perhaps she could control it this time.

In the movies, some fiction characters with super power had succeeded to gain control of their ability by merely concentrating their mind.

Anna tried to calm herself, closing her eyes, mimicking what people called a meditation technique.

Breathe in and out.

The cold wind gusted with freckles of ice.

It was too cold, her brain was freezing. Damn it!

Her feet wandered aimlessly when after eternity passed she finally reached a clearing. It looked like a frozen fjord at the end of the forest.

However, Anna's gaze went to a little figure of a small girl standing back-straight in the middle of the fjord.

The little girl was not older than 10 years old.

Anna couldn't take her gaze off the girl because what had been amazed her is that how the snow had seemed gathered around the girl's body.

Her breath hitched when the little girl smiled, jumping around, the pair of pale little hands were bursting real ice into the air above. She was giggling when the shooting ice from her hand was turning into a funny looking snowman.

The girl danced with the snow, played with it, and controlled them with ease.

For a while Anna had forgotten about the cold, stunned with the scene that was played before her.

Then that magical moment was abruptly stopped when the white-haired little girl's eyes caught Anna's gaze on her.

Anna noticed the same shade of blue. However, this time they were brighter, younger, and… terrified.

The blue eyes widened as if waiting for punishment and inevitable doom from the older girl across the fjord.

All the falling snow in the air halted, frozen in its falling.

The little girl clasped her hands and brought them close to her chest, her defensive stance like those children who were afraid of having done some terrible deed by an adult.

Anna opened her mouth but no words came out.

"Di-did you see?" the girl glanced up fearfully to Anna.

It was foreign; how Anna's most favorite blue gazed at her with terror. It hurt.

"Yes. That one is cute." Anna pointed out the snowman. "What's his name?"

It seemed that Anna's question had caught the girl off-guard. The fearful look in her eyes turned into a puzzled expression. "You… you don't fear me?"

She would be the biggest hypocrite since she was a human who was capable of traveling to the past after all.

"Of what? That snowman is harmless."

Anna's distraction didn't work on the girl. Despite the girl's external appearance, she looked more mature than her age. "Of what I can do." To demonstrate, she shot a wave of ice toward the ground near Anna's feet.

"I think your gift is beautiful." Anna offered a sincere smile.

The girl gasped upon Anna's comment. Her pale cheeks turned into a slight tint of pink.

"So, what's his name?" Anna repeated the question, nodding towards the snowman. "Wait. I got it!" Her mind recalled the pamphlet in her hand minutes ago. "How about Olaf?" The snowman seemed to have a pair of Royal eyebrows. King Olaf would be proud.

The girl regarded Anna with confused look for a little longer then to her creation snowman.

"I like Olaf." She agreed.

Anna observed the little girl in front of her. Never had she expected to meet the little version of the person she had been longing to meet.

"Elsa?"

The little girl snapped up her head, surprised that a stranger had known her name.

Anna grinned. This time, for a chance, she would be the older one. The human Elsa, the little Elsa before her… She couldn't imagine why the little Elsa had been afraid when someone saw her gift.

It wasn't normal.

Anna thought it was more awesome than hers. More beautiful and magical.

Anna longed for Elsa's smile. So, at this moment, at least during her stay in this timeline, Anna promised herself that she would try her hardest to bring the smile upon little Elsa's face.

Anna took a breath, realizing how the temperature around her became a bit warmer despite the slowly piling snow. "So, do you want to build more snowmen?"

.

.

.


	7. Jump 7

**"Being gifted doesn't mean you've been given something. It means, you have something to give."**   
**― pleasefindthis, I Wrote This For You**

**.**

* * *

 

They played for what felt like hours.

Anna made 3 more snowmen to keep Olaf company. Elsa had gone all the way to create a giant snowman and claimed it as Olaf’s brother.

“He is huge.” Anna commented the snow golem that was even taller than the trees. “Let’s name him Marshmallow.”

Elsa’s expression was priceless. “Marsh- what?”

“Marshmallow, you know, fluffy sweets that you eat on a bonfire?” Anna was drawing a face on one of her snowman. “Wait, you guys haven’t invented those yet. What year is this anyway?”

The little blond girl looked at Anna curiously. “You are odd. I have never seen a person like you.”

Anna returned the girl’s stare. “Well, I’ve never seen a kid shooting snow with her hands either.”

Elsa blushed. A hue contrasting the surrounding white around them. “I didn’t mean to be rude…” Elsa waved her wrist. Anna’s snowman now owned limbs and teeth.

“Hey! That’s not fair. I was supposed to do mine and you do yours!” The redheaded teen pouted.

Elsa didn’t expect to upset Anna. “I-I’m sorry… I didn’t…”

“Never mind that, I have to admit that you upgraded him handsomely.” Anna patted little Elsa’s shoulder to reassure the girl.

The little blond girl released a relief sigh. “I thought you were displeased with me.”

There was something about little Elsa that bothered Anna. The girl sounded insecure, often terrified over simple mistakes, and keep to herself very much. Anna never saw those traits on the older Elsa. Although there were several qualities like her elegance, brilliance, and beauty of the adult Elsa that had could be seen in the little girl.

“Believe me, it seems I can never hate you no matter when.” Anna shook her head. “I see you are going to be my best friend in the future. The best of the best.”

The timid expression in Anna’s favorite pair of blue was perking up. “Friend?” Elsa spelled it like it was the strangest word she ever known. “I’ve never had friends… mother is afraid I would hurt a friend…”

Oh.

Anna began to understand the source of Elsa’s insecurity.

“I’m going to be your first friend then.” Anna shrugged. “And Olaf and Marshmallow.” The redhead added their snowmen creations.

Elsa had been looking at Anna with hopeful eyes. Her smile grew and grew upon realizing that finally she had gained her very first friend in the world.

A friend that didn’t fear her.

A friend that would always play with her.

A friend that would chase her loneliness away.

A friend.

A single tear dropped from Elsa’s eyes. Today was the best day of her life.

Anna smiled, she had wanted to hug the little Elsa, but she was surprised when she found both her hands were starting to fade away.

Her time was up.

Oh no, she just made a friend with little Elsa!

A 9 years old Elsa’s smile faltered when she witnessed her friend faded away to nothing. Her eyes widened and her knees buckled under her. What had she done? She had made her friend disappear!

Her single tear was followed by a wave of sadness. Her other teardrops were frozen before reaching on to the ground.

Her friend that she didn’t even know her name.

* * *

 

.

The jump had rudely jerked her from Elsa’s timeline. She landed unceremoniously on the hard ground. Anna could only pray that she was home, in the present timeline.

Anna lifted herself up and observed her surroundings. It always took her a minute to balance herself from the disorientation of jumping through space and time.

She was in a narrow alley, looking at plenty of dumpsters with an unmerciful smell around her.

Her hope was elevated when she spotted a busy street ahead with the sound of car engines and horns.

Excitedly, she skipped over her steps to get out of the unpleasant alley into civilization. She cursed her still-damp clothes and made a mental note to find a place for her to change. She needed to get to the school. God knows how long she had been gone this time.

However, by the time she reached the street, her hope was deflating away.

Several cars were parked on the side of the street, some people seem to get ready to work, and a group of pre-school kids were crossing the street by the help of a policeman.

It was a common scene during Arendelle’s busy weekday mornings.

The problem was the row of parked cars were all antique models in Anna’s time. Not to mention that several women who had bypassed her were wearing very bright looking dresses, billowing skirts, and too much hairspray in their hair. The men mostly wore striped shirts leaving the top three buttons opened.

Definitely not her time.

Feeling suddenly awkward of her own appearance, damp clothes and everything, Anna ducked her head and walked. Thankfully the weather was warm enough for her to take off her red jacket. The color wouldn’t help her blending in despite the trend of light color clothes in this time-period.

There was an empty looking diner 3 building ahead of her. Anna made it her destination.

Ignoring the sign ‘closed’ on the door, she grabbed the handle and swung it open. She just needed to borrow their bathroom to change.

“Oh, hello, lass.”

The voice was awfully familiar that Anna almost got a whiplash when she twisted up her neck.

The fiery-head vampire bended over the cashier registers with a shit eating grin on her freckled face.

Anna only met Merida Dunbroch a handful of times. However, she never felt more grateful to see that grin.

“Merida.” Anna sighed a relief to the former General of Arendelle.

Merida walked around the counter and approached the red-haired teen, observing the soaked clothes and disheveled hair. “You look nice.” She commented sarcastically.

Anna pouted. She felt like a tramp when the woman before her, despite the waitress uniform she was wearing, looked unbelievably gorgeous like usual. “You too.” Anna’s retort came too honest to her liking.

“Oh, turn off your charm, lass. I will still treat you to a chocolate milkshake without it.” Merida shook her head. The fiery curly locks were bouncing with her head. “Let’s change your clothes before you get cold. Elsa would have had my head for it.” Merida ushered the girl toward the diner’s bathroom stall. “Speaking of Elsa… didn’t you see her when you got here?”

Anna accepted a pair of jeans and dry t-shirt from Merida. She was silently thankful the former General didn’t hand her a neon green skirt since it seemed to be the newest trend around.

“No. I didn’t see her. I didn’t even know you were in this diner.”

Merida huffed. “That was unusually irresponsible of her! You could’ve been mugged or worse!” But then a worried glint crossed over her feature. “Go and change, lass. I will go to find Elsa.”

Now Anna was worried. “Is she okay?”

Merida smiled, not her usual grin. “It will be alright. She is an almost thousand-year-old vampire.”

Even if Merida put it that way, it didn’t ease Anna’s concern.

“Look, lass. Perhaps it was only a misunderstanding. Maybe she waited on wrong alley and street, and now frantically looking for you. I have to find her and tell her that you are already here.”

Anna finally nodded. She shivered a little noticing that she needed to get out of her wet attire. “Alright.”

With Anna’s permission, Merida dashed away from the diner. The door chimes followed the fiery-haired vampire’s departure.

.

After manage to change her damp clothes, Anna felt like herself again. She stuffed her wet shirts and uniforms to her backpack which the only possession she brought from her timeline. Anna found a dry towel in one of a small wardrobe of staff’s room. She grabbed it to dry her hair. Anna had left her twin braids loose, allowing her long red hair free down to her back.

Walking back to the front, Anna went to the back of the counter and grabbed a mug. She served herself a cup of hot coffee after managing to operate the old-fashioned coffee maker. By now, she knew the year she was in.

Arendelle, September 3rd 1967.

The year was familiar. Anna frowned. Then gasped. Today was her mother’s birthday.

Not yet recovering from her finding, the diner’s door chimed opened.

A smiling Belle walked in with pile of books in her hands. A horn-rimmed-glasses settled on her nose. She was wearing bright yellow knee-length skirt, white shirt beneath a soft red cardigan. She looked tame compared to the rest of the women on the street. Belle had put her hair up in a bun, and Anna guessed, the brunette vampire had applied a lot amount of hairspray on it.

“You follow the trend.” Anna raised an eyebrow.

“Hello to you too, Anna.” Belle closed the door behind her, and effortlessly hauled 7 thick books in her hands before set all of them down on to the counter. “How are you?”

“Dry.” Anna replied, sipping her almost-forgotten cup of coffee.

Unlike Merida, Belle was trained to notice Anna’s physical and physiological condition. The brunette genius pulled a face when she was observing Anna’s feature.

“When were you before you are here?”

Anna glared at her companion, “Did you read my mind?! Seriously?!”

“No, Anna. I didn’t. You are pale and your hands have slight tremor. I thought I informed you about multiple jumps?” Belle pointed out Anna’s hands which were holding a cup of coffee.

Anna’s attention went to a small ripple on the surface of her coffee. She almost didn’t notice she was trembling if Belle hadn’t pointed it out.

“I have no idea what year. It was winter and I met Elsa.” Anna put down her cup, giving Belle her full attention. “I guess, about 9 or 10 years-old Elsa.”

Anna saw Belle’s expression changed as her lips shut into a razor thin-line and her brown eyes hardened. “That was about a thousand years away jump.” Belle stated.

Anna couldn’t see it. The brunette vampire had turned into a blur and the next second, she was lifted and carried by Belle to a room upstairs. The speed had made her dizzy, only that moment Anna realized how exhausted she had been. She had played for hours with little Elsa in the snow and made another jump after that. It was no wonder her energy was depleted.

Belle opened a door which led them to a small bedroom above the diner.

Anna had no idea the diner had an upper floor.

“I should’ve sped up my research about this…” Belle murmured. “You shouldn’t keep appearing in random timelines without clues and preparation.” She settled Anna on the bed, pulling the comforter up to Anna’s chest.

Anna yawned now that her body had met with a bed, she felt really sleepy. “What research?” Anna asked groggily.

Belle chuckled. “You will figure it out soon. Not this time… but soon.”

Ana nodded in understanding. “Belle, do you know where Elsa is? Merida went to find her but it has been almost an hour…”

“She will be here when you wake up.” Belle said without doubt in her tone. “For now, just sleep. I’ll be here to make sure you will not jump.”

“You can do that?” Anna weakly asked. “I cannot control it. I hate jumping. I hate the damn time travel!”

Upon Anna’s comment, Belle was tempted to peek inside the sleepy girl’s mind. It would be so easy.

“I can keep you grounded.” Belle closed her eyes to avoid herself reading Anna’s mind. Anna had been exhausted enough without her mind being prodded around.

Anna was in a deep sleep when the bedroom door opened and Elsa stepped in.

.

She awoke to the sight of three vampires around her.

Belle and Merida were playing a game of chess across the room. Merida had a scowl on her face while Belle had a happy knowing glint in her eyes. Even Anna knew that it was an unfair game.

Elsa was near her because her smile was the first thing Anna see the moment she opened her eyes.

“What took you so long?” Anna asked the white-haired vampire.

Elsa stopped her rhythmic stroke on Anna’s hair. “A very urgent matter came up.” Elsa answered though an amused expression was visible on her face.

Merida snorted. “Actually she encountered a very pregnant woman on the street. The very pregnant woman suddenly went into a labor and panic ensued around the block. A bookshop owner offered his place for the woman to pop out her baby. Elsa helped and unfortunately, she dragged me to help too.”

Belle cringed upon imagining a bookshop turned as a maternity ward. Book shops and libraries were like a sacred and religious place for the brunette vampire.

Elsa smiled, Merida laughed, Belle frowned unpleasantly, and Anna giggled.

“Thankfully I wasn’t there.” Belle muttered.

“Yes, lucky you. I have lived for 3 centuries but that was my first time to witness a real childbirth… I think the scar will haunt me for eternity.” Merida shuddered.

Anna was giggling whe, on her side, Elsa commented. “It wasn’t that bad. Giving birth to a child is wonderful and magical process. In my opinion.” Elsa winked at Anna’s direction. “Mrs. Durham will now raise a beautiful daughter…”

Anna’s giggling stopped, her head turned to Elsa slowly. “Wait. You said… who?”

Elsa’s smile grew. “Mrs. Durham. Her daughter, she named her Cassandra. It was her great grandmother’s name.”

Her mother. Elsa had been involved to help the birth of her mother.

“Did you know… before? I mean…” Anna was stammering, didn’t know what to say.

“I knew, Anna. We all do. I have to make sure that your existence would prevail in this world.” Elsa said with steel determination, the other two also nodded firmly. “However, I didn’t know the exact time, so I was torn between helping your grandmother or you. Merida appeared at the right moment…” Elsa continued her explanation.

Anna was baffled by the revelation. She looked up to Elsa with a new light. So much that she hadn’t known about her but Elsa, by this information, seem to know almost everything about her.

_Why?_

“You knew why.” Belle quipped from across the room, no doubt had chosen to read Anna’s mind at the moment.

“No, I don’t.”

Belle closed her eyes, averting her gaze from the girl on the bed. “Your existence is like a falling domino effect, Anna. If you cease to exist, we will also cease too.”

Anna’s mind was processing the information. “So, you said that you keep me exist so for your own self?”

Belle stood up from her seat, fury crossed her feature. Anna winced and that was enough to trigger Elsa to jump up from her bed, crossed the room, and pinned furious Belle to the ground. Both exchanged threatening snarl and hiss between each other.

Anna had to admit that the scene before her was unbelievably frightening. She had heard of Belle and Merida fighting back in Victorian London, however… seeing it directly with her own eyes, witnessing how the pair of Elsa’s blue eyes darkened into almost black color with animal growl came from her throat…

Anna gulped her fear.

She felt a cold hand grip her forearm and saw Merida kept her on the bed. “It’s alright, lass. Close your eyes.” Gently, the fiery-hair vampire put both her hands over Anna’s ears, muting every sound in the room around them.

Belle struggled under Elsa’s hold. Like Elsa, the brunette’s eyes were also darkening into charcoal black.

“Get off me!” Belle hissed.

“Get hold of yourself Belle! You know that Elsa will not release you if you haven’t!” Merida yelled, her hands were holding Anna who now had closed her eyes. “Stop it both of you! You scared the lass shitless!”

Belle squirmed, knowing that she was fighting a losing battle. “She has to understand! You both do not know what she was thinking about her own gift! I have to make her understand!”

Elsa’s darkened eyes gradually changed into her normal blue ones. She though, didn’t loosen her hold on Belle.

Following her sire, Belle also calmed herself down. She hated herself for easily losing her composure. It happened to Merida, but it rarely happened to her. Not unless it had to with the redhead time-traveler.

“She will understand, Belle. It is not your place to do so.” Elsa finally said.

On the bed, Merida released her hold on Anna. The girl opened her eyes, finding both women were now in civil term. Elsa was helping Belle to stand up from the floor.

“I apologize that you had to witness that, _mon ange_.” Elsa said sadly.

Anna didn’t know how to react. Everything today had happened so fast that even her smart brain couldn’t process it anymore.

Merida got up from the bed, Elsa replaced Merida’s place beside Anna.

Anna couldn’t help but winced away when Elsa’s hand touched her. The image of charcoal eyes and feral growl were re-playing in her mind.

When Anna caught Elsa’s gaze, the redhead teen saw clear deep hurt reflected from her favorite blue eyes. She had wounded Elsa deeply by squirming away from her touch.

“Elsa…”

“No, Anna… I understand. You are afraid. Afraid of me. I am a monster after all.”

“No, you are not.” Anna disagreed.

“I am not human, you saw that seconds ago.” Elsa abruptly got up and left the room before Anna could utter an apology.

Two remaining vampires had mixed expression. One was guilty while the other was worried.

The fiery-haired one knew though that nothing could physically hurt vampire but fire.

However, for Elsa… nothing could have hurt more than the sight Anna rejecting her.

.

Merida chose to keep Elsa company while Belle remained upstairs with Anna.

There was only one thing that came up in Merida’s mind to handle the situation.

The former General went to grab a bag from the cooler and purposefully walking toward her slumped sire on the counter.

Merida took a wine glass and poured the content of the bag into it. The aroma hit them both in waves. Even Merida found her mouth was watering a little. However, she held her urge and slid the glass to Elsa.

“Drink.”

Elsa looked at her friend, contemplating for a moment. “It’s her blood isn’t it?”

“She came 3 days ago, handing it to me, telling that you will need it in near future. I hate it every time she is vague.” Merida huffed.

Elsa stared the glass and its content as if they had personally offended her. “I hate it when she does that too.”

“You know she didn’t mean it.” Merida tried. On the back of the counter, she was distracting herself from the tempting blood by busying herself wiping glasses and plates.

“I know… that’s why I’m scared. She looks so mature that I forgot she isn’t a 23 years-old.”

Merida grinned. “She is almost 15. Isn’t that what human call the teenage phase? Fall in love with a lad, drinking booze, creating mayhem and hell?”

Elsa glared. “Anna will not do any of that.”

“You sound like an over-protective father.” Merida retorted. “Are you going to drink that, because if you don’t I’m sure I will.” Merida had meant it as a joke but Elsa took it seriously.

“NO! MINE!” The platinum blond hissed dangerously that even Merida had to take a step back.

“I know, I know!” the former General then made herself scarce. It was a bad idea to be in close vicinity with very territorial vampire.

.

“I feel terrible.” Anna said after full minute of silence.

“Me too.” Belle responded, not moving an inch from her standing spot since Merida had left moments ago.

“I made a big mistake.”

“Me too.”

“How do I fix it? I should apologize, right?” Anna asked hopefully to Belle. The brunette vampire seemed to have solution for everything.

“Perhaps, but let’s give her space now. Your reaction was not wrong, Anna. The sight of two powerful vampires attacking each other is surely horrifying. I ashamed of myself for losing control like that.”

Anna shook her head, “Merida would disagree. She thought the sight of a woman going into labor is the most frightening one…”

Belle’s lips twitched up involuntarily. “Don’t get cheeky on me, young lady.” Anna’s comment though had cheered her sullen mood a little.

A wave of sweet smell hit Belle’s nose. She immediately covered her nose, putting distance between the bedroom door and herself.

Damn Merida! She should’ve told me she was going to open the bag!

Anna frowned, looking at Belle’s strange behavior. “What is it?”

Belle’s gaze went toward Anna. Her fists clenched on her side. “Nothing. A smell took me off guard.”

“What smell?” Anna asked curiously.

“You must understand that we do not eat human food, Anna.” Belle answered vaguely.

An understanding came to Anna. The girl didn’t ask any further.

“How long until I get to jump back?”

“Not long. After the rest, your body should’ve been ready. I have to advise you to train yourself, Anna.”

“I don’t know how.”

“You will. I hope my future-self can help you learn.” Belle said sincerely.

“How do you do it?”

“I beg your pardon?” Belle unintentionally slip into her formal-speech.

“Controlling your… uhm, vampire urges.”

“By centuries of training.” Belle was eyeing Anna carefully. “And I have strong motivation.”

“Motivation…” Anna whispered like the word was so foreign to her. Time travel was stupid ability to have, she didn’t have any interest to dwell deeper into it. “It seems I don’t have one.”

“You have a wonderful gift, Anna. I wish you to understand that.”

Belle’s speech didn’t convince her even a little bit.

The next morning Anna jumped, unknown to the 3 vampires downstairs.

* * *

 

.

Anna landed in water.

For what it felt like horrifying seconds she had thought she was drowning in the Pacific Ocean.

Turned out, she had landed in a fountain.

A big fountain which was located in front of Arendelle’s school building.

“Anna Elise Summers! What the hell are you doing, taking a dip in a school fountain?” Her father’s voice boomed on her ears when she looked up and found her parents were hovering above her.

Fully certain, she was now back in her present timeline.

Anna climbed out of the ornamental water feature and gladly faced her parents.

“What in seven hells you are wearing?” His father asked again when he spotted Anna’s strange clothes.

“Language, Dave.” Her mother chided although she seemed to be no less furious with her daughter.

An image of her grandmother giving birth to her infant mother crossed Anna’s mind. She cringed but couldn’t help a big grin on her face.

“Wipe your smartass grin, girl. You are lucky we have a train to catch. Go to your dorm and change your clothes. Where is your uniform?!” Her mother asked after observing her daughter’s state of dress.

Anna had left them in the 70’s.

But she couldn’t say that.

“Mr. and Mrs. Summers.” A voice cut the argument that was about left Anna’s mouth.

Anna had concentrated on both of her parents too much that she didn’t realize a fourth presence among them.

A woman, seemed on her early thirties, dressing on a sky-blue suit with a gold pin attached on her left chest. The woman had yellow-almost golden hair that reached upon her waist. The woman was very strikingly beautiful that Anna didn’t believe she was a human.

Wait.

The red-head teen thoughtlessly grabbed the woman’s hand to check her assumption.

Warm.

She is not a vampire.

The woman cleared her throat audibly. “Miss Summers. Nice to meet you too.” The woman turned Anna’s hold into a friendly shake. “My name is Rapunzel White. I will be your history teacher this year.” The woman, Miss White, offered a smile.

Anna nodded dumbly.

Miss White turned to her parents. Anna didn’t register what they were talking about, it was just that Miss White would take care of their daughter and make sure for the girl to settle comfortably in the dorm.

Her parents seemed assured by Miss White’s words. They let the matter drop and excused themselves to catch their train. Her parents kissed her goodbye at the school gate after making her promise to text at least twice a day and call them in the weekend.

After watching her parent’s car disappeared at the end of the street, Anna turned to who would be her history teacher.

Miss White smiled, appraising her soaked shirt. “Let’s get you into the dorm. Oh, and don’t worry about your uniform.”

The girl complied, following the teacher’s steps toward the dormitory building.

“The boy dormitory is on the other side of school building. The curfew is 10 o’clock for freshmen and 11 o’clock for seniors.” Miss White explained without slowing down her steps. It was amazing how the woman could do such long strides on a pair of high heels.

“Every student has a roommate. You, however, are a special case.” They finally stopped on a grey wooden door which had number 2013 on it. “This is your room.” Miss White push opened the door, revealing a spacey room with a single bed on the middle, study desk facing the window, a bookshelf, and a small wardrobe.

“Wait, what do you mean special?” Looking at the room and finding no reason to complain, Anna was curious of why she was the only student without roommates.

Miss White evaluated her for a moment. The former friendly smile she had had when she was introducing herself to Anna was gone. “Your uniform is inside the cabinet. You can look up your schedule online. Bathroom is at the end of the hall. Breakfast starts at 7 until 9 o’clock.”

The teacher hadn’t answered her question at all. It was cue to her to not pry further.

Anna shrugged. “I get it. Thank you.”

“It is nice to finally meet you, Anna.” Miss White said, using her first name unexpectedly.

Anna returned the teacher’s gesture with a dumbfounded stare. Something was definitely off.

“Oh, and your physics teacher’s room is on first floor. Number 1023.” The older woman motioning a floor below them.

“Wha-? Physics teacher?”

The smile returned on Miss White’s face. “See you in class Anna.” She closed the door, leaving the girl by herself.

Anna thought that her history teacher was rather weird.

.

Anna preferred to be prepared when schooldays started. So, she spent her next hour to researching about the school. She learned that Arendelle’s school building was formerly a summer mansion for the Royal Family of Arendelle. After the main castle in Corona had been destroyed by the enemy, the family then moved here and governed Arendelle for 200 years is this building. That was why there were pieces of historical relics left in school building. The current king, King Olaf the fourth had allowed the remnant to stay and to be learnt by the next generation of Arendelle.

Anna turned to her timetable for the year. She had history 3 times a week. It came to her that the subject had been deemed important in this school because the king’s words. The rest of subjects were compulsory lessons like math, physics, P.E, biology, and literature.

Her eyes bulged out at the name of her teachers.

Her physics teacher was Professor Belle French.

_Are-you-freaking-kidding-me?_

She thought Belle was a professor in a university of some sort. She was too much of a genius to teach a bunch of high school kids.

Dropping everything what she was doing, Anna stormed out of her room. Miss White’s words earlier rang in her head.

The physics teacher’s room is on the first floor. Number 1023.

Anna decided to not care of why her history teacher had told her that information. She needed to talk with a certain professor.

The redheaded teen stomped her way down the stairs, passing through some students who had just returned from summer vacation and preparing the new term. She stopped at a grey wooden door that was similar to her own. 1023.

Before Anna could bring her knuckles to rap the door, it swung open.

“Hello, Anna. I have been hearing your mind yelling from miles away.” A smiling Belle who was wearing a yellow suit with identical golden eagle pin on her chest greeted her by the door.

There was always something she felt about Belle French. No matter when and where, the brunette vampire seemed put her under the most scrutiny. There wasn’t a detail that could possibly escape under her observant deep-brown eyes.

Why is a genius professor willing to teach high school freshmen physics?

“That’s because you are a freshman.” Belle answered easily. The professor was still holding the door half way opened.

“It will always be like this then? You following me, make sure I exist so you all are saved?!” This time Anna had questioned it out loud. Since she was still standing on the hall, few passerby students were looking at her direction curiously. They though, had also enough decency to turn their head away when a teacher is involved. With a simple glare from Belle, the hall was deserted in next 5 seconds.

Belle returned her attention to Anna, furrowing her brows a little. “1967 then?”

Anna straightened her posture, bracing herself if Belle would react like the last time she had confronted her. “You can stop all of this, I don’t need you to follow me around.”

“Anna-”

_I wish I could make this time travel ability gone away!_

“Anna!” Belle had to yell to get her attention. Anna didn’t even flinch by Belle’s raising tone but a flicker of fear flashed on her eyes for a fraction second.

Belle noticed this and regretted it immediately, “I’m sorry. I am truly sorry. But, you have to stop thinking about your amazing gift that way.” The brunette professor said with a pained voice. “Please.”

_Nothing good came with this ability._

“That’s not true.” Belle shook her head. “Do you think Elsa is not good?”

Anna gave her a look as if Belle just said the sun had risen in the west. “Of course not. Elsa is the best thing-”

“-You ever experienced thanks to your power. Imagine you had no chance of encountering her.”

Anna was taken aback. She had never seen it that way. Imagining her life without Elsa was… it was impossible.

“I am here for a reason, Anna. One of them is to help you with your… gift. It has always been my priority. I cannot help you, however, if you are not ready.”

Anna was fidgeting with her sleeves, head bowed, looking downward to the tiles under her feet. Belle had knocked some sense into her. Well, the professor always made sense out of her, ever since she had been explaining about time-travel possibilities 3 years ago. The woman had lived centuries, claiming to dedicate her life for research in order to helping her. She had always been there, along with Elsa and Merida, helping whatever she could in her own way. With science.

And yet, here she was, sulking like a child. Even she was ashamed of her 14-year-old self.

She was being a bitch now.

“Language, my dear.” Belle chided, disclosing that she had been listening to Anna’s internal rambling.

Anna hid her flustered face. She didn’t want Belle to catch her vulnerable expression after finding out what she had been thinking.

“Do-do you think I’m ready?” Anna asked.

“You will be. Now, go back to your room and get some sleep.” Belle said with mild commanding tone. “You must’ve been exhausted after your jump.”

Anna nodded compliantly. Strangely, she didn’t want to argue and dismissed herself by walking back the way she came. The redhead teen could feel Belle’s watchful eyes on her back until she took the stairs to the upper floor.

After watching Anna’s figure retreated upstairs, Belle got back inside her chamber and closed the door on her back. Her brown eyes were appraising the other occupant in her room.

“You did well.” The other woman praised the professor.

“I did, didn’t I? I had a feeling that you almost ripped my head off when I yelled at her.”

“I wanted to rip off your head because you used your compulsion on my Anna.”

“I had to because she needs to go back to her room before she finds out you are here.” Belle went to her desk, busying herself with school paperwork she had to finish before the school started. “So, you did want to rip off my head?”

The woman smiled. “Almost. But I didn’t. I just… I just want to hold her. I really miss her.”

“You will, Elsa. Soon.”

.

Back in her dorm room, Anna didn’t go straight away to bed. She continued her browsing about her school.

Anna returned to her timetable that she hadn’t had a chance to finish. Scrolling down to the next page, her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

The next information almost made her heart stop.

It was written that her English Literature teacher was Miss Elsa Anderson.

.

.


	8. Idunn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have many names.” The vampire said after a pregnant pause. She had put down Anna’s hand gently, taking extra care to dab Anna’s cut with a piece of cloth from her dress. “People mostly call me Morgana the Witch, or simply Witch-that-shalt-be-burned.” She said amused with Anna’s puzzled expression. “My true name is Idunn.”
> 
> When the vampire told Anna her true name, the teen felt something had shifted on the air. The weather became colder by next second as wind blew gently carrying smell of rain from miles away.

**“It's hard being left behind. (...) It's hard to be the one who stays.”**   
**―[Audrey Niffenegger](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/498072.Audrey_Niffenegger),  [The Time Traveler's Wife](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2153746) **

* * *

**.**

 

Anna’s eyes raked over her schedule for the second time. Her mind was telling her that her teacher could be another Elsa, not her Elsa. However, since Belle was already her physics teacher, it was highly possible that her most favorite vampire was also her teacher.

Anna didn’t know how she felt about it.

She was excited; she hadn’t met Elsa in her present timeline yet. On the other hand, she was puzzled as how to behave around Elsa now that she was her teacher. Certainly, she couldn’t cuddle with her teacher.

Anna blushed at her own thoughts.

Lately, her mind had gone haywire whenever she thought about a certain platinum blond vampire. It was different than when she had been 9 years old. In her mind, the blue-eyed vampire had slowly turned from wonderful person Anna admired into a very beautiful amazing woman who made her feel funny in her stomach.

English literature would start in the second week. The redhead teen had about a week to prepare herself. But, she could meet Elsa in the hall, outside the classroom, or anywhere around the school. After all, they both were now going to same building every day.

Why did she take so long to show up in her timeline? It was one curious thing Anna wanted to ask. The blue letters from her future-self always implied that she hadn’t been good enough for Elsa in this timeline. Honestly it had hurt her deeply.

Chasing away her insecurity, Anna called it a night and prepared herself to sleep. Her new uniform was hanging neatly inside the wardrobe. Anna had assumed that it was Belle’s doing.

She opened her trunk to unpack, getting her pajamas from the piles of her shirts. She noticed a small black pouch slipping out from one of the piles. She had no recollection of packing the small pouch, curious, Anna’s fingers pulled open the zip.

She was greeted by a Swiss Army knife, a lighter, and pepper spray.

Anna was dumbfounded until she spotted a piece of paper along those things inside the pouch.

‘No woman should walk unarmed. – Dad.’

Of course her father had packed her those things. Anna rolled her eyes. She was sure she would be totally fine inside a dormitory of well-known private school in the country.

Just when Anna about throw the pouch back into the trunk, she felt the ground around her feet shift.

She was in for another jump.

* * *

 

Unlike her previous jump, this jump literally knocked her off her feet. She had managed to land on her feet but somehow her knees gave up on her and next second her face met with unforgivable hard dirt.

Anna found her energy had been drained off her almost completely.

She was surrounded by darkness and while she was too busy gasping for air, her nose caught horrible stench on the air. Her senses came back too slowly. After a terrifying whole minute, Anna gathered her senses and tried to haul her body up.

Only to get pulled back by gravity again.

Frantically, her eyes were observing through the darkness. She could finally see four walls around her, a small window up above the ceiling barred with rusty iron, and thick white fog came from her breath.

Her body registered the chill as Anna unconsciously hugged herself into a ball.

The stench, Anna pondered, was mixed of horse manure, human sweat, and… blood.

The thought of possible dangers lurking near her had alerted her senses ten folds. Despite her exhausted body, Anna managed to get up from her fetal position and get to the corner of the room. She felt safer when her back touched the cold stone wall, minimizing anyone’s chance to attack her from behind.

A door. Anna’s eyes finally noticed grey wooden door that seemed so ready to get off its own hinges any moment.

Without a second thought she raced outside the room. There was no lamp, so Anna accidentally bumped her toes to a wooden table. The redhead teen hissed, holding herself from cursing out loud, alarming anyone near the area.

Then she realized that she had been holding the pouch her father had packed for her.

Anna hurriedly grabbed a lighter and flicked it on.

The troublesome table beside her had thick of dust and spider webs. Based on that, Anna concluded that the place was uninhabited for at least months or years. The furniture was all made of wood and the floor was soiled. There was pile of hays in the corner which had been styled as make-shift bed by the previous occupant. Anna couldn’t make out the date or the year. There were no modern devices, no electricity, and she was afraid that she had jumped too far to the past.

Then Anna registered loud noises from outside the establishment.

It had been quiet night and suddenly sound of people yelling foreign things, metals clashing, women screaming, and children crying filled the air. Anna braved herself to peek from small hole on the wall.

Torches lit accompanied with barrage of at least 40 grown men were marching away from the woods. Behind them Anna saw a red-haired woman shackles on all limbs was being dragged harshly by the chain.

On the sides, women and children were watching the spectacles with mixture of horror, sadness, anger, and excitement.

Something was going on and Anna couldn’t figure out what.

The foreign yelling somehow had turned into something that the redhead could understand. It was like someone had put a translator device in her brain. The words were still foreign but Anna found herself to grasp each words the people had been yelling.

“Burn the abomination!”

“Save our children!”

“Send them back to hell!”

That moment, Anna had half a foot already outside. She saw a big stake in the middle of village surrounded by branches logs, ready to be lit. Her mind worked itself out and after watching movies with her mother and playing video-games with her father, she knew what would happen next.

“Burn the witch!”

Anna’s gaze shot back toward the red-haired woman who was being dragged undoubtedly to get onto the stake.

“Oh no…” Anna murmured.

She joined the mass of people around the stake, blending in with angry mothers, terrified young women, and curious children.

She should’ve known by now that the past had been very fucked up.

Anna had to sneak between smelly bearded men before she could see the red-haired woman clearly.

Four men were now tying the woman’s limbs to the stake, each of them had a wide grin and fear in their eyes.

Strangely when Anna caught the woman’s eyes, she only saw calmness and serenity. Surely for someone who was about to be burned alive, the woman should have been very scared. But… the pair of sparkling golden eyes had told otherwise.

The woman turned her head toward Anna and when their eyes met, Anna finally caught flicker of hope in those eyes.

It seemed they had been staring at each other for too long since next thing Anna knew, the fire around the stakes was now lit up, devouring everything around it, and in short moment, burning the woman alive.

Anna turned to the woman who was now smiling at her. The redhead teen couldn’t help it but she had to do something to help that woman.

The time-traveler jumped to nearest man who was about to throw a torch and woods.

“STOP IT!” Anna pushed the man away with all her might. She felt a brief victory when the man stumbled back and fell on his ass to the ground.

The man with thick dark beard and heavy muscles was obviously pissed. It didn’t take long for him to get back up, pointing his crook greasy finger toward Anna accusingly.

“Associate of the witch! You shall be burned!”

Anna would’ve laughed incredulously if she was in her present timeline. However, now she had stuck in the past where, apparently, helping a woman from being burned alive would categorize her as a witch.

Ignoring the fear and possible consequences that await her, Anna pulled her pepper spray from the pouch, aimed it carefully at the puzzled man, and fired.

The next second, the man was wailing on the ground with hands covering his face. Yelling that his face had been burnt.

“Sorcery!” One of the angry mothers shouted at Anna.

A group of men made an advance toward her but her hand shot up. “Don’t you dare take any step closer!”

After witnessing their friend being brought down by unknown fire magic to the face, the group of men threw hesitant glances at each other. They feared the girl, the girl with similar hair color like the witch on the burning stake.

Anna now had her lighter in hand and flicked the lid open. A blue fire from the lighter emerged followed by loud gasp from everyone that watching on it.

“She created a fire without wood! It appears from her hand!” one of the man said with awe.

“Brigid. She is Brigid!” The old woman who had previously accused Anna of sorcery now went down on her knees, bowing down with her trembling body.

The rest of villagers were following the old woman’s example. They bowed down, begging for forgiveness and uttering praises.

Anna hadn’t expected to generate this effect when she flicked her lighter on. It had been planned as merely distraction. If she had known that her lighter could make people worshipping her, she would’ve lighted it all the way here like the Statue of Liberty and her torch.

Speaking of torches, Anna’s attention immediately went to the woman in stake. Her eyes widened when she only found a half burning stake without any sign of the red-haired woman the villagers had been accusing as a witch.

When her attention was shifted elsewhere, the man who had been hurt by the pepper spray got up with fury. He didn’t care if the girl was a goddess, he would not let any magic in his village.

The man grabbed Anna’s hand, pulled it upward harshly, forcing the girl too look up at him directly.

Anna was taken by surprise when she was being jerked by the huge man only to stare at pair of angry bloodshot eyes.

Anna gulped, now she was officially terrified.

“You! Little harlot!” the man yelled, tightening his fist around Anna’s wrist.

The time traveler whimpered when pain shot through her arm, she closed her eyes, preparing whatever would come from the angry villager.

The pressure on her wrist then was gone completely, making Anna stumbled on her feet.

When Anna opened her eyes, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to forget the scene before her.

The red-haired woman had sunk her teeth into the villager’s neck. There was sickening crunch when his flesh gave up under the sharp fangs. Blood pouring like a small fountain, splashing the woman’s mouth, neck, and dress. The villager’s body had stopped struggling seconds ago and now had gone limp under the woman’s grasp.

The cloud night revealed the moon which was half full that night. Anna eyed the glint of moonlight reflected from the woman’s golden eyes. The eyes which were still expressing calm and serenity despite the slaughter of the mouth doing.

It took 10 minutes or maybe an hour, Anna hadn’t kept track with the time, for the woman to finish her prey. It was prey and predator in Anna’s eyes now since it had been awfully similar with the wildlife show she had watched on TV with her father.

After the predator had finished with her meal, she turned at her with smile and traces of fresh blood.

Anna wasn’t alone to be the one who froze in fear - though in her case - also a bit of curiosity.

The woman tilted her head. “Hello, little one. Or must I call you Goddess Brigid?”

Anna’s jaw hang opened. She certainly wasn’t a goddess or any kind of deity.

The woman’s golden eyes flickered, the flawless beauty twitched her mouth into upward snicker.

“Wait, you are more than that,” Her voice sang a sentence.

Anna had assumed, the moment that woman devoured the villager, the time traveler knew what creature the woman was. However, only when the woman reached out and caressed Anna’s cheek with odd affection, Anna became absolutely sure with her assumption.

The woman was a vampire.

“You are way lost from home, little one.” The red-haired vampire continued caressing Anna’s cheek while contemplating something. “I never needed your help from the start but I appreciate the noble intention.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “So, why did you let yourself get staked and burnt?”

The woman shook her head. “How naïve… you are so adorable.” She licked traces of blood around her red plump lips. “This whole village is my dinner.” She exclaimed loudly.

The villagers who had been freezing in fear now in complete terror.

Anna realized that she had no idea about vampires beside Elsa, Belle, and Merida. Here before her stood a vampire who had devoured a man with a smile and announced her plan to eat all people in the little village for dinner.

Here before her was a monster.

The villagers immediately scrambled away from the woman. The men gathered some tools for weapon, the women took children to safety and some had halfway fleeing from the village.

“Now little one, you must go. I have to hunt.”

“No. You cannot kill those people!” Anna grabbed the woman’s blood covered hand.

“Why not? They were really eager to burn a young woman alive minutes ago.”

Anna didn’t know how to counter a common sense to a vampire. “The children do not know anything.”

The woman laughed melodiously, if it hadn’t been the blood covered her dress, the vampire would be mistaken as a goddess of the night. “The children will die painlessly, I promise you that.”

Anna almost burst into tears, imagining children being preyed upon by the merciless vampires.

“NO!” Anna blocked the vampire’s path in defiance. She had her Swiss Army Knife in her hand, pointing it threateningly at the woman vampire.

“What a nice knife you have… be careful, you may hurt yourself,” The vampire said a little bit intrigued, she snatched away the knife from Anna’s hand.

Losing her only weapon, Anna now cowered in fear but she didn’t bug away from her spot.

The vampire was inspecting Anna’s knife with high interest. Never in her long life had she encountered such a thinly crafted blade.

“This will cut well.” The woman gleamed in amusement. Her attention was back to the foolish brave girl who had been standing on her way. “You are really interesting girl.”

“People always say that about me.” Anna huffed her words.

“I’m tempted for a little taste.” The red-haired vampire said.

Before Anna could react, the vampire had one of Anna’s arm in her clutches. There was a deep bruise already forming around her wrist from the villager’s grip previously. The vampire woman’s hold however, so tight yet not hurting her at all.

Anna’s eyes bulged when the pointy end of her knife was tracing her skin’s surface threateningly.

“That brute has sprained your wrist.” The vampire stared disapprovingly at Anna’s purple bruise.

It distracted Anna from the sting on her open palm. The vampire had made a thin cut across Anna’s palm intentionally.

Anna bit her bottom lip, refraining from crying in front of the suddenly tense vampire.

The golden-eyed vampire brought Anna’s palm to her mouth. She licked the wound she had inflicted with a relieved expression.

It seemed like the woman had found her favorite kind of pizza in her life. Anna knew since Kristoff had made that face when he tasted carrot ice-cream for the first time.

“I have many names.” The vampire said after a pregnant pause. She had put down Anna’s hand gently, taking extra care to dab Anna’s cut with a piece of cloth from her dress. “People mostly call me Morgana the Witch, or simply Witch-that-shalt-be-burned.” She said amused with Anna’s puzzled expression. “My true name is Idunn.”

When the vampire told Anna her true name, the teen felt something had shifted on the air. The weather became colder by next second as wind blew gently carrying smell of rain from miles away.

“Idunn.” The name sounds easy on her tongue. “Do you know what year is it now?” Anna blurted the question.

Anna’s question seemed to make Idunn understand everything. The vampire had satisfied smile on her face while answering, “it is year 967 after the resurrection.”

No wonder Anna had experienced extreme fatigued the moment she arrived in this time-line. She had jumped more than a thousand years.

“I shall not hunt tonight.” Idunn declared.

Anna looked up upon hearing Idunn’s words, “why?”

“Should I?”

“NO!”

Idunn smiled. “I can always hunt another night.”

Anna was about to throw second complain when Idunn hold up a hand, “I promise to you, upon my mother’s grave that I shall not kill any children in my hunt.”

Anna swallowed her protest. She disagreed on Idunn’s way of killing villagers for meal but it appeared they had reached a compromise.

“I will not forget you, little one.” Idunn licked her lips, savoring taste of Anna’s blood. “We may meet again in the future.” The vampire had a knowing smile.

The words sounded like farewell, Anna had no idea if Idunn had known. It was like a cue for her because once again, the world shifted around her.

* * *

.

She touched down into the fountain again. Anna knew the moment she spotted the ornamental sculpture of eagle. Her shirt had been soaked and she had no energy left to come out of the water.

Thankfully the weather was still warm despite it was the beginning of autumn.

Suddenly a pair of cold hands whisked her up from the water. Anna’s eyes met with a pair of familiar warm brown eyes.

This vampire Anna knew was very different than Idunn.

Anna grinned lazily at Belle who seemed not even slightly amused by Anna’s condition.

The red-head teen was too exhausted to notice the second figure which had been hovering closer to Belle. Anna seemed suddenly stupid for not noticing it earlier.

“I smell blood. She is injured. Anna, where are you hurt?” The second figure asked worriedly.

Anna’s one week time to plan for this encounter had gone to the drain. Elsa was now taking over her hold from Belle, searching for injuries on Anna’s body with evidently panic-stricken expression.

Eventually, Elsa found the open cut on Anna’s palm and deep bruise around the teen’s wrist.

Anna never saw Elsa turn so still before. The platinum blond vampire’s expression was full of pain and anger as her jaw clenched, preventing her fangs from appearing. Elsa’s blue eyes were darkened resembling of charcoal, similar when she had had a fight with Belle back in ‘70s.

On the corner of her vision, Anna noticed Belle had taken a step back away from Elsa and Anna. The brunette vampire offered apologetic look to Anna. Elsa was beyond angry since someone or something had hurt the redhead teen. Only Anna could calm Elsa down in this state.

Anna didn’t like this version of Elsa. She may not have had a plan for the first encounter with Elsa in this timeline but Anna didn’t want their reunion to get bloody with Elsa going berserk. This vampire – Anna thought – is very kind, loving, and the most wonderful being in planet, very different with that Idunn.

“Elsa.” Anna called, tugging Elsa’s collar shirt softly.

When Elsa looked up, her eyes had turned back into Anna’s favorite blue. Anna smiled.

“I’m tired.” Anna said with a drowsy grin. It was the truth since no matter how excited she now had met Elsa, she didn’t want to do this in her sleepy state. “School starts tomorrow.” Anna realized, suddenly horrified.

Elsa’s gaze softened, “Let’s get you into bed, _mon ange_. You may get a permission slip to not attend class tomorrow.” Elsa winked playfully. The older woman hoisted Anna up effortlessly and carried the girl to the dorm. Anna overheard Elsa murmuring Miss White’s name to Belle.

“I get a day off tomorrow?” Anna asked sluggishly. She couldn’t help it but feel totally at home wherever Elsa was near. Especially in Elsa’s arms.

“Yes _mon ange_. You will rest, I insist.”

Anna recalled earlier that day that it had required 15 minutes walking from the fountain to girl’s dormitory. However, they had reached her room in less than 1 minute. Certainly Elsa had used her vampire’s quirk to get to the room faster.

“We need to change your clothes, Anna.” Elsa said after settling Anna on the bed.

“I want to sleep.” Anna shrugged.

“You will get cold.” The older woman took out a pajama from Anna’s trunk. The one Anna had dropped the moment she was jerked away to the past.

“Alright.” Anna answered quietly. The girl pulled up her soaked shirt over her head with sluggish movement. Since her energy had been drained after the jump, she found herself stuck, unable to get out from her own clothes.

“Elsa, help!” Anna inquired with muffled voice.

The sight should have been cute if Anna was a 9-year-old. However, Elsa could clearly see Anna’s physical growth that now almost turned the girl into fully a woman.

The vampire went tense, recalling that this had been one of her reason to stay away from the girl until the girl’s 16th birthday. It had been a heavy compromise and in the end, a thousand years old vampire still apparently ended up pathetic when it came to the love of her life.

Now here she was in a room with Anna on a bed, half-naked, sleepy, and injured.

Elsa knew she couldn’t beat her instincts when it decided to go into overdrive. She had lost almost all her sanity when she found the bruise and the cut. She had wanted to ask for the party who was responsible, she had wanted to destroy whoever had hurt her angel, and she had wanted to claim her time traveler immediately. Those thoughts simply vanished when Anna had called her name with concerned albeit tired eyes.

This wasn’t the time to worry about herself and her need of retribution, Anna should be her priority.

After helping the teen out of her shirt, Elsa almost lost her resolve when the girl claimed that she couldn’t get out of her jeans. Poor Anna didn’t even have energy to undress herself.

Thankfully Elsa was a vampire. If she had been human, she would’ve burst a blood vessel due to heavy blushing.

With great restraint that even the Dalai Lama would admire, Elsa somehow managed to change Anna’s clothes including the girl’s underwear.

The moment Belle returned with Rapunzel, Anna had been changed and tucked in by Elsa.

Belle noticed the discarded of soaked clothes on the floor and then her gaze turned to the sleeping girl. She frowned before throwing an accusing glare at a guilty-looking Elsa. Belle already half-deep reading Elsa’s mind about the event minutes ago when she hadn’t been around.

“I didn’t touch her.” Elsa seemed to know what Belle was going to ask.

“The girl is 14.” Belle crossed her arms across her chest. Sire or not, Elsa needed a reprimand.

“I didn’t touch her!” Elsa repeated with threatening hiss.

Rapunzel cleared her throat, cutting in before the argument turned into punches. “Ladies! I’ll just need a moment to fix her up.”

Rapunzel then strode toward the side of Anna’s bed when Elsa and Belle were still glaring at each other.

However when Rapunzel went to touch Anna’s injured hand, Elsa shot up in instinct. Belle was faster as she grabbed her sire before she could hurl Rapunzel outside the window just because she was touching Anna.

“Rapunzel is helping her.” Belle stated.

Rational part of Elsa had acknowledged that, but her vampire instinct was begging her to jump and protect Anna from any harm. Her vampire instinct was now worse because Anna had been physically hurt.

A minute after Rapunzel’s hand touched Anna’s wounds, the bruise and cut had healed without marks. As if those injuries never marred Anna’s skin in the first place.

“There, done. I cannot cure fatigue; she has to sleep and eat more for her lost energy.” Rapunzel said while getting up from her position. She had known better than to test Elsa’s territorial instinct.

Elsa seemed more relax when she regained her initial position beside Anna’s bed. Expression of content obviously on her feature as the platinum blond vampire did her usual rhythmic stroke on Anna’s hair.

“Thank you, Punzie.” Belle said to her friend.

Rapunzel sighed. “I said call me White. Call me Punzie again and I’ll strangle you with my hair.”

Belle knew that it wasn’t an empty threat since Merida had experienced a noose made up of Rapunzel’s hair around her neck a year ago.

Belle almost got knocked off her feet when surge of indescribable anger seeped through her mind. The brunette vampire read Elsa’s mind and shocked upon their new finding.

The moment Elsa had about to kiss Anna’s cheek, she caught the other vampire’s scent. Elsa had been foolish for not realizing it sooner. She had been too preoccupied with Anna and her own worries.

She knew which vampire’s scent was on Anna. After all, this was the scent she had been yearning to slay for a thousand years.

“Idunn.” Elsa hissed with hatred and anger.

Thinking about how her Anna had been in close proximity with that monster made Elsa feel more unease. The future-Anna never disclosed about this particular jump to her. Elsa wondered why.

One thing for certain that she would never let that woman have her way for whatever she was planning.

She had hurt Anna. Elsa’s gaze rested on Anna’s hand where previously it had been marked with a bruise and bleeding cut wound.

Idunn would pay.

Elsa would kill her sire for this.

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the true time-line story will begin


	9. High School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the whiteboard there was a writing, '1912: most memorable tragedy'.
> 
> "Okay class, I think some of you may know what we will discuss today," Ms. White gestured at the whiteboard.
> 
> Anna took 3 seconds to ponder before figuring out the answer. Apparently almost of all the students in the room needed less than that to guess.
> 
> "The unsinkable sinking ship."

**_"It's about a girl who is on the cusp of becoming someone.. A girl who may not know what she wants right now, and she may not know who she is right now, but who deserves the chance to find out."_**  
― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

* * *

Anna had slept the day away. She felt surrounded by cool comfort and the sweet smell of chocolate. The moment she awoke from her dreamless sleep, she found her source of comfort curled up beside her with a very content smile.

She was cuddling Elsa.

"Good morning,  _mon ange_ … or, good afternoon." Elsa greeted with her eyes focused on Anna's face with unusually great concentration.

Anna blushed under her gaze. Although it wasn't her first time sleeping with Elsa by her side, this time however, her stomach churned funnily while her mind experienced a brief short-circuit.

"… hey," Anna replied dumbly with croaked voice.

That concerned the platinum blond vampire who immediately handed Anna a glass of water. Anna accepted it gratefully.

The redhead teen sipped her drink under Elsa's intense gaze. It was a wonder that she hadn't choked midway.

"So… have you been here the whole time?" Anna asked after finishing her drink.

Elsa nodded. "I have been waiting for you to wake up." She offered a playful smile. "You have 274 freckles on your face."

The comment took Anna off her balance. She felt her face burn hot.

Elsa was enjoying Anna's flustered face which had reminded her of an apple. She thought the girl was even cuter when Anna's face had turned same color like her hair.

"Are you feeling better?" Elsa asked, her eyes were searching for any discomfort reflected from the girl.

Anna nodded, didn't trust her own voice yet. Her stomach did a somersault when Elsa beamed her a smile. She should've planned this better.

"I met you… the younger you." Anna finally said. She looked down to avoid Elsa's intense staring on her while nervously biting her lip.

Elsa's hand which had been stroking on Anna's hair halted for a moment. "I see… our first encounter? I still remember it as if it was yesterday."

Anna grinned, "you were shooting ice out of your hand. It was so cool!"

Elsa blinked, "well… you wore very odd attire."

"Olaf was a master piece." Anna recalled the snowman she and Elsa had built.

The memory brought wider smile upon the platinum blond vampire, "Olaf… he loved warm hugs."

Anna scoffed, "and you built that giant marshmallow."

"It actually took me quite time to figure out what marshmallow is."

Anna made a mental note to keep some marshmallows with her in case she was getting swept back to Elsa's childhood years.

"You know I have planned this, or I have planned to make a plan for our first encounter." Anna admitted with dejected tone. "I thought I will meet you in a week time."

"Me too,  _mon ange_. However, I couldn't hold myself when you returned from an undocumented jump. I almost lost it again when I found out you were hurt."

Elsa felt ashamed of her incapability to control her instincts, while Anna felt a bit guilty for making Elsa so upset.

"I wonder what was your plan going to be if I met you later?"

Anna shook her head. "I prefer you are here with me now. I have been waiting for years to meet you." Anna's mind wandered to the blue letters that had been constant reminder in her life. Anna unconsciously threw herself into Elsa's arms and hugged her tight.

"Anna?"

"My plan would've been to give you a warm hug first." Anna murmured against Elsa's shoulder. The redhead teen took a deep breath as she took in the sweet chocolate smell.

Anna couldn't see Elsa's expression but Elsa's melodious chuckle filled her ears. "I like your plan."

They stayed like that for a while since Anna was too comfortable to move and Elsa was too content for having the girl in her arms.

"I would like to know about the last jump…" Elsa began, one of her hand rested on Anna's forearm.

Anna now was fully awake. The memory from yesterday resurfaced from her mind. The fire, stakes, angry villagers, pain, and the red-head vampire.

"Idunn." Anna murmured the vampire woman's name. Elsa's hand on Anna's arm twitched slightly. "I met a vampire named Idunn. She was going to be burnt alive by the villagers. They accused her as a witch… I tried to help." Then she told Elsa everything that had transpired in that jump.

"She cut you?!" Elsa growled when Anna had told her about the cut on her palm.

Anna nodded. "She licked my blood off…"

The fair blonde vampire turned rigid with her jaw clenched. "She tasted your blood." It had taken all her resolve to not fly out the room and hunt down the sire. The vampire had touched and hurt her Anna. How dare, how dare Idunn had licked a taste of Anna's precious blood.

Elsa committed a very low growl, controlling her temper while she was holding Anna in her arms.

Anna unconsciously rubbed her wrist which had been injured the night before. She was confused when she found that her bruise and cut were gone.

Anna looked up at Elsa, her eyes were asking for confirmation.

"You are fine now," Elsa brushed Anna's cheek with her cold knuckles. Anna's heart skipped a bit which the blond vampire had mistaken as fear. Her little human must've been very scared to have encounter with her sire. "You are safe." Elsa's voice was full of conviction and determination. Elsa's hand slid down to Anna's wrist. She felt calmer as her hand felt Anna's warmth and pulse.

"It was year 967. I have jumped more than a millennium." Anna continued.

"That's too far away." Elsa agreed, frowning while remembering the last time Anna had jumped too far back to the past. "No wonder you were so exhausted."

Anna let out a frustrated sigh. "I wish I could control this better. How do I control the jumps?! What if the next jump happens while I'm in the middle of showering and I end up naked in the Jurassic era?!"

Elsa was amused but then getting slightly irritated. She didn't like the idea of anyone or anything seeing a naked Anna. Dinosaurs or not.

"That will not happen." Elsa couldn't suppress her chuckle despite that. "I'll make sure you fully clothed and equipped for jumps. We have your journals about jumps you have made and will do in the future."

Anna pouted. "If you guys have that then you surely should've known about my last jump."

"You have left several jumps undocumented, Anna." Elsa said with chiding tone. "It is our weakness, we call them undocumented jumps."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm not that good in keeping record then."

Elsa smiled. "Your notes have been meticulous and useful. It is obvious that you have left some jumps unrecorded intentionally. Why that is, only your future-self knows."

"When is my next jump?" Anna asked.

"It would be a week from today, unless we have another undocumented jump between that. Don't worry, we are making some preparation for your next jump. You will get 'special assignment' from Miss White, Belle, and me after school."

Anna's eyes widened. The special assignment sounded like extra homework for her.

"It is not homework, dear." Elsa shook her head, her blue eyes twinkled.

Anna gasped, "I thought Belle was the mind-reader!"

"It is not so hard to read your expression."

"I will keep practicing my poker face then." Anna pulled her best of nonchalant expression.

Elsa chuckled. "What you need to practice on now is swimming and some reflexes."

Swimming. Anna groaned. She had been learning and practicing to swim for years now. The blue note had struck her nerve that had driven her to have swimming lesson. Now she could swim breaststroke, freestyle, and even backstroke. She was almost flawless in the water.

"I can swim." Anna said almost smugly.

"We will be the judge of that." Elsa tapped the red head's nose playfully.

* * *

The rest of the day had been spent by cuddling with Elsa. She found herself getting spoiled with treats and candies from both Belle and Elsa. Even Merida had sent her regards with huge box of licorice and chocolates. The red-head teen had been on the edge of sugar rush when Miss White came interrupted the girl's sugar consumption.

"You two should've known better than that. A human girl can only handle so much sweets." The scene was too comical as Anna watching both powerful vampires getting scolded by her history teacher. Anna didn't know Miss White really well. But from what Elsa had told her, the woman was the one who had healed Anna's injuries yesterday.

"But Anna is so happy eating the fudges." Elsa said with determination as if it was the ultimate reason to justify her deed. In the background, the red-head nodded eagerly, secretly hoping Elsa would win the case.

Rapunzel only glared at her since Elsa was a lost cause before turning to Belle. "And what's your excuse, Belle?"

The brunette vampire cleared her throat. "According to my research, sweets and chocolates contain substance that could restore human's depleted energy and mood…"

"Also rotting teeth, sugar rush, and an upset stomach." Rapunzel continued Belle's speech. The woman turned at Anna who still had sprinkled sugar on the corner of her mouth from a donut. It was too adorable and from Elsa's look, Rapunzel had figured as why the two vampires had pretended to be oblivious about the sugar stain left on the young girl's cheek. Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

The sweetness was too much in this room, literally and figuratively.

"You three are talking like I'm not here." Anna pouted on her bed which was littered with several plates and candy wrappings. The only one thing lack would be a Christmas tree.

"Put down the chocolate, Anna." Rapunzel chided with commandeering tone. She might as well point a gun to the girl.

The giddy red-haired girl complied reluctantly.

"Judging from the amount of sweets you have consumed I think it will be okay for you to attend class tomorrow." The history teacher sighed not even bother to check the girl for sugar rush ailment. She couldn't heal that kind of affliction.

"Party pooper." Anna murmured lowly that only two vampires could hear her. Elsa and Belle smirked with amused glint in their eyes as Rapunzel only could guess of what the girl had said.

Elsa hoisted Anna up from bed and gently led her to brush her teeth. The three older women shared glances with each other, which clue for Belle and Rapunzel to leave the room. Elsa would tuck Anna personally to bed, no question asked.

"White, you realize that you start acting like Anna's mother, right?" Belle nudged the woman after they finished settling the girl to bed.

"The girl needs proper adult human to supervise her. She is too young to be gallivanting between times." Rapunzel said casually. "I know you, Elsa, and Merida have been her guardian between her time adventures, but surely she may snap in the future."

"Next thing you would surprise me with 'what is your intention to my daughter' speech to Elsa." Belle flashed her friend a knowing smile.

Rapunzel threw an incredulous look at Belle, "I thought it is more your thing than mine. You are the one who has been hell-bent to protect the girl's chastity." Rapunzel laughed a genuine laugh. They both had crossed the dormitory path and now were walking around the school building toward the school laboratory.

"She is 14!" Belle shrieked. "But you have a point. She is too important for me."

Rapunzel gave Belle a criticizing look before saying, "I know but she is destined for Elsa… and that vampire has very amazing control, considering those vampire urges…"

Belle opened the laboratory door for Rapunzel and stepped aside. "That is the sole reason I trust her enough to be with Anna now." She pulled a lever on the wall and then blast of light filling the room.

Rapunzel had been in the room for several times now but she would never get used to with the amount of metal devices, tinkering tools, even a mini rocket launcher in the room. The room was designed as advanced laboratory which hidden two floors deep below the main building. The previous king had arranged everything for Elsa and her companies to have full access on the latest technology and equipment in Arendelle.

"Let's start preparing for Anna's next jump."

* * *

.

Anna had missed her first day of school but Belle had said that student's orientation wasn't that eventful and she would only catch up for introduction in class today.

Somehow, it felt weird to witness centuries old vampires were walking down the hallway of school corridors. It was weird in good way since those vampires were inhumanly gorgeous and instead of walking, they were gliding elegantly like royal queens from Middle Ages.

Both Elsa and Belle were truly a spectacle to behold among the students and staffs. Therefore, Anna felt a little bit intimidated while she was following both women steps toward her classroom. The red-haired girl recalled the previous conversation which had happened half an hour ago in Ms. White's office.

"Please explain to me why you two are going to 'escort' Anna to  _my_  class?" Ms. White had both her arms crossed in front of her body, raising one of her eyebrows to both vampires fearlessly.

Elsa gave a soft smile while looping a pair of her arms around Anna's shoulder, giving a cue for Belle to handle Ms. White's question. Anna couldn't help but blushing so hard with her heart beating uncontrollably until it brought concern on Elsa's eyes.

Belle shrugged. "Today is Anna's first day. Her first step of high school life, we think it's very important moment in a human's life journey, especially the education path."

Anna almost forgot how sometimes Elsa, Belle, and Merida would take exaggeration as the new extreme in some aspects of her life.

Meanwhile Ms. White was throwing Belle a glare as if the centuries old vampire had grown a second head. "Seriously?"

"Anyway, we don't want Anna to be late on her first day of school." Elsa cut in both arguing teachers. Thankfully the wall was pretty thick and no one would be able to hear their bantering and conversation. The sweet smile Elsa had was again, a cue for both women to end their bantering.

"I can find my own class you know." Anna offered. She could bear herself as audience no longer. She was almost 15 and perfectly capable to walk to class on her own.

Elsa and Belle exchanged glances for a second and then they both let out a light chuckle. "Not a chance." Belle said.

Thus the reason of why Anna was walking the hall tailing the two most gorgeous teachers in school to her history class. Elsa had offered to hold her hand but Anna had refused instantly. She wasn't a kid anymore, holding her teacher's hand to class would be totally weird in another level.

Belle smirked upon hearing that particular bit of Anna's thought. The red-haired teen grumbled in annoyance on Belle's casual trespassing into her mind.

"Obviously we have to mind our actions around you while in public." Belle said when they reached a deserted corridor. The reminder was meant more for the platinum blond vampire than herself. "However, you can come to us whenever you need, remember that."

Anna had mixed feeling about the statement. In one side she felt relieved that she could be near her favorite vampires, but on the other hand, would she be able to experience a normal high school life?

"What is normal?" Belle stopped mid-step and turned her body to face Anna. Elsa glanced curiously toward her brunette companion. "What kind of normal high school life do you want, Anna?"

Anna was like a deer on headlight, she shifted her gaze on Elsa, asking for help. Surely with her time-traveling ability she knew she couldn't be normal like other kids in her ages.

"Belle, stay away from her head." Elsa understood right away that the girl was uncomfortable.

"I was merely asking…" Belle defended herself, lifting both her hands up, sign of surrender.

Anna occupied her mind with some cute puppies images in order to defending her mind.

Belle mused. "Smart."

* * *

She had history as her first and second period in the day. Since Anna had enrolled with spectacular credits in the subject, the school had given her opportunity to join the advance history class for mostly juniors and seniors.

No one she knew attended the class, not even one familiar face. Thankfully Ms. White had pointed at a desk on the corner exactly near the window for her.

After settling her textbook, Anna shifted back her attention to the topic of the day. The class had started 15 minutes ago.

On the whiteboard there was a writing, '1912: most memorable tragedy'.

"Okay class, I think some of you may know what we will discuss today," Ms. White gestured at the whiteboard.

Anna took 3 seconds to ponder before figuring out the answer. Apparently almost of all the students in the room needed less than that to guess.

"The unsinkable sinking ship." One of them, a girl with wavy brown hair and olive-skinned body piped in.

Ms. White gave the girl a look of appraisal, "Excellent, Jasmine. However, abandon all thoughts and romantic aspects that you have watched from the movie. In my class, we will study and discuss the true history." The blond teacher smirked. Anna guessed that Ms. White seemed to be in her element now. "So everyone, let's go down with this ship."

Meanwhile, the red-haired teen was recalling her last conversation with Elsa about supplementary lesson for her jump preparation.

Ms. White was writing the word 'TITANIC' on the whiteboard with some kind of determination.

Anna had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

.

Her day was not necessarily bad. She came to know several kids from history class. There was Jasmine, the girl who answered Ms. White's question and Meg, the cheerleader with strong sense of justice. It was her luck who had made her end up with two girls in history study group.

Jasmine was a nice girl. She was polite though Anna tried not to notice all expensive brands the girl was wearing from head to toe. Megara, the cheerleader was rather kind and caring, beneath the scowling and complaining about political and status quo in the world nowadays.

Of course they both were juniors, 2 years senior above her.

"It is curious thing to have a freshman in Ms. White's class. You must be really smart." Jasmine commented while they were shaking hands, introducing each other.

"I would say the girl is special, Jas. Didn't you see that Ms. Anderson and Ms. French escort her to class?" Megara responded with snapping tone which made Anna flinch. Although after that the cheerleader appraised her with smile. "Welcome, to Arendelle high, freshman. You can go to us if you have question or anything."

At least she had 2 friends in school now.

After class ended, Ms. White requested her to stay a bit longer.

"What's your next class?"

Anna took out her schedule paper. "P.E with Mr. Weselton."

Rapunzel grimaced. "Good luck with that. I will write you a note of why you come late, so don't worry."

Anna shrugged. "I don't mind. I hate P.E."

Rapunzel motioned a chair across her desk. She pulled up some books and papers before handing it to Anna.

"I have gathered all historical information about Titanic ship. Even Merida managed to snatch a copy of the ship's blueprints."

Anna threw her a puzzled look. The books were at least more than a thousand pages with countless extra papers. "But you assigned us homework to gather fresh perspective on Titanic tragedy."

"True," Rapunzel nodded affirmatively. Her blond hair shone like gold under morning sun which had made it through the window. The older woman sighed audibly before continuing. "My bad, I thought you have already known about this."

"About what?"

"Your next jump is 1912, to the RMS Titanic."

.

.

* * *

* * *

 

Anna knew only a few about her new history teacher. Only recently had she encountered some surprising facts regarding the golden-haired woman. The woman’s touch had mysterious healing powers and she also appeared quite comfortable in the company of vampires like Elsa and Belle. Anna had guessed right that Elsa had befriended Rapunzel for quite a while. Neither Elsa or Belle had shared the story behind their unique friendship with Anna’s history teacher who, despite her mysterious ability and flawless beauty, was in fact a human.

“She is like you, human with an ability, for the most part.” Belle said in passing after Anna had just woken up from slumber yesterday and still cuddling with Elsa on the bed.

“… the most part?” Anna raised an eyebrow with questioning glance toward her favorite vampire who had been holding her close.

Elsa looked content with sincere smile on her face then nodded. Her blue eyes sparkled, focusing lazily into Anna’s eyes. “… she can heal physically afflicted wounds.” Elsa continued while her cold finger was tracing Anna’s palm, where a cut from Idunn had been left only hours ago. Anna loved Elsa’s cold since the cold, almost freezing, contact always oddly sent certain warmth into her body.

Anna felt that Elsa’s explanation had not yet answered her question. “I am human, aren’t I?” The red-haired teen even could hear her own doubt inside her voice. Now that she thought further into it, her time-traveling ability was not normal for a human. She could be an alien or ghost or… mutant?

Belle chuckled in the background. Anna snapped from her own thought, turning to the other vampire in her bedroom. She was often forgetful about Belle’s ability to read minds. The brunette professor always had subtle and calming presence, or at least whenever Elsa was around.

“Do not worry, Anna. You are not an alien, ghost, or mutant. I’m certain.” Belle winked while waving her hand dismissing Anna’s silly thought from her own mind. “You worry too much. Does it matter too much if you are not human?”

Belle’s question made Anna fidgeting uncomfortably on her spot. After all, she was surrounded by non-human entities- more like mythical creatures. “No, not really.” Anna shrugged, blushing heavily after she shifted her gaze to Elsa’s direction. Elsa was staring at her intensely with contemplative frown between her eyes.

“Well, girls around your age tend to have identity crisis…” Belle mused lightly, followed by Anna’s frown.

“I am glad that you have the gift, _mon ange_. I cannot imagine waiting for a thousand years to catch up with you. Not that I mind the wait, you are worth waiting for a thousand years.” Elsa said with a light tone, however Anna could detect that Elsa was dead serious on her statement.

Belle who had been watching as third party had taken notice how Elsa’s words had eased the girl greatly. She had been trying to tell Anna of how precious her gift was, it appeared only Elsa’s words that able to change the girl’s mind. Somehow it was frustrating.

They were bonded. Belle averted her gaze as Elsa patted the red-haired teen affectionately.

Belle felt a bit envy of their bond but like usual, she casted it aside and took a cue to leave the room. She needed to talk with Rapunzel about Anna’s preparation for today.

.

Recalling their previous conversation about her history teacher, Anna couldn’t help but feel a connection between her and Rapunzel. They both were in almost similar circumstances, human with abilities albeit different ones, and the red-haired teen somehow felt happy that she was not alone in this.

“I’m not Belle, you know.” Rapunzel said from across the room. Her back arched straight while leaning on the wall with both her arms crossed in front of her chest. “I cannot hear your thoughts,” she said softly, shifting her weight on her other foot, relaxing her posture a bit.

“Well, I’ve been thinking.” Anna admitted. They were both in an empty classroom. Rapunzel had made her go through every document Merida had compiled about the famous sinking ship. They had been studying and reading for more than 3 hours before finally the golden-haired teacher called it for a break.

“About the next jump?” Rapunzel offered hopefully. In the past 3 hours, she had been trying very hard to prepare the teen for her next historical jump. It was very crucial for the girl’s survival, yet the girl had been zoning out every 10 minutes throughout the lesson.

Anna winced, casting a glance to 4 piles that were left for them to be finished. “No, I think I’ve had enough. You had my brain exploded just with the blueprint.” Anna shrugged. Perhaps she was a superhuman, but her brain was still super normal.

Rapunzel sighed but then smiled, “I know it’s hard, but we have to make sure that you can survive this jump.”

Anna rolled her eyes, “Well, by the look of Elsa, she had met with the older me, so obviously I’ll still be alive for at least several years.”

Her words did the unthinkable as Rapunzel suddenly strode across the room and placed both hands on Anna’s shoulders. The pair of pale green eyes became fierce, imitated like a green fire. Anna felt her heart jump at the sight, it was clear that her teacher was beyond upset.

“Don’t,” Rapunzel hissed. “Never underestimate ‘Time’, Anna. It is true that you cannot change the past, but the future? It is even more fickle than you think.” Rapunzel said, shaking her head as if she was bothered by something. “I took an oath to assist you as long as I live.”

“Oath?”

Rapunzel loosened her grip on Anna’s shoulder, her gaze softened, turning back to the pale calm green and she smiled easily. “I think the break is over. Shall we continue?”

At the end of the day, Anna was left with even more questions about Rapunzel White.

.

“How was it?” The platinum blond vampire placed a cup of Anna favorite chocolate pudding in front of her. The girl was all too happy to receive the sweet treat after a long day.

“My eyes are about to peel off if I have to continue to read that many words.” Anna almost gulped down the pudding before Elsa chided her to eat slowly. “Don’t tell me that tomorrow I have to study about that damn ship again.”

“Language.” This time it was Belle that chided on her.

Anna groaned. “Seriously, you guys act like my mother.” Anna pointed out to both Belle and Elsa. The later seemed to take offend of the remark.

“I’m not your mother, mon ange.” Anna swore that she witnessed Elsa was pouting for a fractured second.

It was Belle that steered the topic. “Anyway, you will have extra lesson with Merida tomorrow,” the brunette vampire joined them on Anna’s bed, although she still kept her distance by sitting on the edge.

“Merida? I thought she is the chief of police…”

“She has a certain skill-set that important for you to learn.” Belle explained.

Anna was staring on her now-empty plate, wondering about how she will learn tomorrow.

“Don’t worry, I will go with you tomorrow.” Elsa took Anna’s empty plate and replaced it with a bar of chocolate. The red-haired teen grinned from ear to ear as Elsa kept feeding her sweets. Surely if her history teacher was around, the woman would scold both vampires and reprimand Anna about bad teeth and sugar rush.

Since vampires would never get any human illnesses, in other words, Elsa only did what makes Anna happy and content. That including feeding the teen with overload of chocolate and candies. Although Belle had more sense in human health compared to Elsa, the brunette vampire also had weakness when Anna’s mind was content with happiness every time the girl eats her treats.

In short, both Elsa and Belle were kind of suck in taking care of their human.

The thinking reminded Anna about Rapunzel’s action during their lesson. Now she was more curious about the ‘oath’ Rapunzel had mentioned. It was rather frustrating how people around her keeping secrets that related about her. Anna dared to bet all of her chocolate storage that Elsa, Belle, and Merida were keeping secrets about her also.

Anna bit her chocolate and caught Belle’s glance on her. The twinkling in her eyes seemed like prompting Anna to contemplate further with that topic.

It was so foolish to contemplate with that particular vampire around. Belle’s gift never allowed Anna to have private thoughts or secrets inside the head. It was really unfair and sometimes she just wanted a space where the mind-reader vampire cannot access her thoughts.

Anna glared at Belle, daring her to speak out.

Instead, Belle only smirked, exchanging glances for a moment with Elsa. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed. You still have classes tomorrow and Merida’s extra lesson. You need all strength that you may get.”

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed.” Elsa easily lifted up Anna’s body and led the girl to the bathroom to change.

“Elsa, I’m not a kid anymore you know.” Anna huffed in protest, grabbed her pajama while undoing her own buttoned shirt on the way.

Elsa’s advanced sight caught on Anna’s bare cleavage before the girl disappeared into the bathroom. Belle noticed how Elsa was smiling fondly upon the closed bathroom door.

“I am too well aware of that, _mon ange_.”

The brunette vampire guessed that if she could, her sire would have been blushing on the moment.

.

“Can I shoot a gun?” Anna asked hopeful, stealing glances to Merida’s service weapon which strapped on her belt.

“No,” three resounding voices replied at the same time. Elsa, Belle, and Rapunzel had the same opinion involving a teenage girl with firearm.

“Perhaps.” Merida quipped a second later, winking to the time-traveler who was giddy by her reply.

“You must be joking…” Belle muttered in disapproval, knowing what Merida had been thinking for Anna’s preparation training.

“Shut up, Belle, you all got share for training time. Mine is physical lesson.” Merida patted Anna’s shoulder, keeping the girl on her side.

Suddenly everyone except Anna noticed how temperature on the air dropping, even Rapunzel swore silently that she could see her own breath.

“No firearms, Merida.” Elsa said with flat tone. “Not yet.”

“… roger.” The fiery redheaded vampire stuttered in defeat.

Anna who was still oblivious with the cold exchange between the older women in the room, slumped her shoulder in defeat. “Oh well, no gun but at least I do not need to read anymore texts.”

“Reading is fun.” The brunette professor said in defending tone. Behind her, Rapunzel also half-nodded to the thought.

Merida chuckled, “I will do everything in my power to not let you be a total nerd, anyway let’s go prepare. I am still on my afternoon shift. We will take my patrol car to the training ground there and be back before dark.”

Anna looked up to Elsa and the rest. “You are not coming along?”

“We have staff meeting this afternoon, Elsa cannot ditch anymore, she has run out of excuses for ditching classes and meetings,” Rapunzel answered.

Anna eyed how Elsa adorably frowned and pouted her lips a little, showing displeasure for her situation. “I’m sorry Anna. I will come and see your training as soon as the meeting ends. We have too many meetings for high school teachers.”

Belle seconded the opinion with a shake of her head. “True. Anyway, we will catch up with you as soon we finish here. Merida, don’t forget send us a text every hour.”

“Half hour.” Elsa corrected, her eyes slightly darker.

“Half-hour.” Belle repeated.

Merida rolled her eyes, these two were too much to handle if it was about Anna, “Aye, aye ma’am, I will take care the lass, no worries.”

Anna grinned and then went to Elsa’s side, enveloping the platinum blonde vampire with a hug. The teenage human obviously had surprised Elsa with the sudden hug.

They hugged for a long minute before Anna stepped back with slightly flushed face and stared her most favorite vampire in the eyes.

“See you later, Elsa.”

Still overwhelmed with Anna’s scent and warmth, Elsa was unable to react until the redheaded teen had strapped herself inside Merida’s patrol car.

Elsa knew Anna’s scent very well, upon centuries, it was the only thing that had been a constant existence in her life. In the present Anna’s scent had gradually changed, more similar like the adult Anna she had been missing so much.

“Not a little girl anymore, indeed.”

Behind her, Belle was keeping her thoughts to herself in vain.

.

What Merida mentioned about training ground was actually a small hill located behind the school. In addition, what Merida had said about training was actually a lesson from hell.

Anna was panting as she climbed up the fourth hill. She should not have answered about her lack of exercising in past few weeks. She should have answered that she had been keeping fit with her body and eating well.

Surely Merida would’ve known that it was a lie.

“In dire situation, never to fight, but you should run like hell.” Merida half yelled from the peak upside.

Anna wanted to yell back a curse but her breath was more precious than replying to the former general.

Meanwhile, as she was watching the girl’s training to strengthen the feet and increase the running speed, Merida diligently sent texts and occasionally pictures to Elsa, Belle, and Rapunzel.

‘I bet she thinks that reading is more fun by now.’ Belle replied her text with winking emoticon.

‘I knew that it is necessary, but do not forget to keep her hydrated.’ Rapunzel typed a reply.

‘I will be there in 10 minutes.’ Was from Elsa after Merida had sent pictures of exhausted Anna slumped on her knees after running the third hill. The former general would be lying if she said she hadn’t freaked out by Elsa’s text. She should’ve sent pictures of smiling Anna instead of that.

However, an assurance from Belle that Elsa would not go anywhere because of the speech she had to deliver at the end of the day for the meeting had kept her nerve at bay. At least she still got an hour and half until the herd coming.

“You… you are general from Hell…” Anna panted, bending her body and resting both hands on her knees while catching her breaths.

“Those were just warm ups. Are you warm enough?” Merida grinned.

“What?! Are you serious?!” Anna squeaked. “You mean, there are more?!”

Merida handed her a bottle of water and an energy bar. “Drink it up, we need to move.”

Anna changed her mind from earlier. She preferred Rapunzel, Belle, and their boring library.

.

The second course was hand-to-hand combat. That was what should be, however, Merida was teaching her more about dodging than striking.

“Use your brain, not your muscles. You do not have those yet.” Merida said as she threw a slow punch to Anna’s right side.

“I will be going to a sinking ship, why the hell I need lesson to fight and punch?” Anna asked in frustration. They had been doing variation of punching and dodging multiple times, but every time Anna would be the one who ended up rolling on the grass.

“You never knew, but the future-you knew. At least you need to have fast reflex in case something dangerous comes up.”

Anna seemed taken a little bit of thinking after that. “But were you guys there? On the ship?”

Merida’s face turned serious. “Well, we should take a break.”

Anna hadn’t gotten her answer yet. “So, you three will not be there? I was alone?”

“No, you weren’t. Elsa would make sure everything is ok, she always will.” The fiery red-haired vampire motioned Anna to sit on the ground beside her.

“Whatever happens, just keep calm, lass. Your emotion and heart are what keep you and your abilities grounded.”

“I cannot even control my power yet.” Anna replied gloomily.

Merida never liked to see the girl sad. Reassuring the girl was Elsa’s expertise and Belle’s habit, not hers. However, neither of them were around now.

“Yet. You saw it, didn’t you? Back in London before the Ripper case? The older you have perfectly controlled it. It’s your future.”

“Rapunzel said the future is fickle.”

Merida laughed heartily, as if she had tasted enough of what the future had brought to her. “Indeed, it is, lass. But you are also the one who teach me that it is worth fighting for.”

Upon Merida’s words, something felt clicked inside her heart.

It is worth fighting for.

.

Elsa carried the exhausted sleeping time-traveler into her car. She couldn’t complain to Merida too much about the hard physical training, she understood it well that it was crucial and necessary for young Anna to prepare for the next jumps to come.

“She looks beat,” Rapunzel commented firstly when the three spotted both redheads seating under a big tree on training ground. The young history teacher immediately took position beside Anna to scan for any physical injuries.

Belle couldn’t help but smile that even in her dreams, Anna was dreaming about running up and down hills.

Elsa took over Merida’s spot and leaned the girl’s body onto herself, making sure Anna would stay asleep in most comfortable position.

“She is good, but I think we need to keep up her training. Titanic is just one documented jump that we know will happen near the future.” Belle joined the rest by sitting beside the fiery redhead vampire who strangely looking so serious. “What are you thinking, Merida?”

“I just think she is growing up too fast, I mean… this is the last time that we can see little Anna…” Merida shook her head, wishing to rid herself from the silly thoughts. The girl had been constant presence in her eternal life, she had witnessed and met the older Anna, but surely somehow the younger version of the lass had been her favorite. After all, it was the younger Anna who had taught her of second chances in life.

“You sound like a mother with kid who will soon leave home for college.” Rapunzel had finished examining Anna’s condition and satisfied that the girl only had a little scrape on her knee. The pants were a bit torn and she was sure Elsa would fix her more durable clothes for Anna’s next training.

Merida curled up a proud smile. “Well, the lass is like a little bear.”

Belle could read the pride on Merida’s face without even reading her friend’s thought. The four of them had been bonded because of the little time-traveler who was snuggling into Elsa’s arms.

“We shall go back before dark, humans can catch a cold and need a bath or we will stink.” Rapunzel, being the human representative, interjected into everyone’s thoughts.

“Anna smells heavenly,” Elsa disagreed.

Rapunzel and Merida rolled her eyes together. Elsa’s admiration about the girl was sometimes too much to handle.

.

Days go by as Anna continued her daily training. After class, she spent her time with Rapunzel and Belle in library while Merida would offer her time after that to continue with another lesson from hell. The red-haired teen could bear all of that since Elsa would never miss Anna’s training with any of them.

Elsa wanted Anna to wear knee-guard next time she went training with Merida. The girl complied but when that day she had hurt her elbow, Elsa then casually mentioned about the possibility of a light body armor for her time-traveler, which of course was rejected outright by Rapunzel and Merida.

Belle was always the nice go-between negotiator between Merida and Elsa regarding Anna’s physical training. Rapunzel backed her up with assurance that she would always be there to heal any cuts and scrapes. Belle reminded her sire that in real situation, it was impossible to prepare the girl for everything. Anna needed to learn how to fight and protect herself if dangerous situation arises.

Anna had become used to how the older women around her discussed her well-being as if she wasn’t there. At least Merida kept her entertained with a video-game before the discussion started.

“Have you memorized the ship’s blueprint?” Rapunzel was the first to steer away from the body armor topic.

“How can I not? You practically choked that into my brain.” Anna mumbled, recalling how she had spent all night memorizing each decks and stairs.

Rapunzel would not admit out loud that, in fact, Anna was a bright and fast learner.

“Well, she got knowledge, strength, and spirit… I guess it’s time.” Merida clapped her hand once to get the girl’s attention.

“Time for what?” Anna sent her a puzzled look.

“Your dance lessons.”

Wait. What?

.

“Will you be there?” Anna asked, trying her best to not sound too nervous.

“I will always find you, mon ange.” Elsa smiled, giving Anna a little squeeze on her hand.

“It’s just a ship, oh well, a sinking ship in the middle of frozen water. I’ll be just fine.” Anna muttered sarcastically.

“I wish I could go with you.” Elsa said sadly. “I think we can prepare more for this…”

Anna shook her head, “I cannot be more prepared than now. The lesson has been horrifying, surely I can go over this jump smoothly. Also, you will find me there.” Anna had no idea who she was trying to convince, herself or Elsa.

Elsa seemed contemplating something for a moment before pulling Anna into a hug. “I’ve been doing this so many times in centuries, but I’ll never getting used to this.” Elsa whispered to Anna.

“Doing what?”

“Letting you go.” Elsa’s gaze wandered to Anna’s curious eyes while her hand absentmindedly stroking Anna’s hair.

“I wish I can control this better.” Anna sighed. “I prefer to stay in the present with you.”

Elsa shook her head, her gaze never strayed from Anna’s face. “That won’t do. It would make my past even lonelier.”

Anna blinked, she never thought of that possibility. It seems her actions whether in the past or present has been resulting on Elsa’s sorrow. “I’m sorry.”

“Never be sorry, mon ange. We will meet again soon. Are you ready?” Both knew that the jump would be anytime now.

Anna nodded. “You even taught me how to dance. I am more than equipped for battle on a legendary sinking ship.”

Elsa looked amused. She agreed with Rapunzel’s opinion on how Anna was surprisingly a very fast learner on any lesson, except dancing.

The door of Belle’s laboratory opened, the last three of the group joined them, each had been failing to hide their anxiety.

“The lass is more than ready,” Merida said although she sounded not very sure compared than yesterday.

“She would be fine, will be back before we know it.” Rapunzel said confidently, however her messily bun hair stated otherwise.

Belle exchanged glances with Elsa before speaking up. “Be safe, Anna. See you soon.”

With that, Anna’s world turned into a blur.

.

The long history lesson about the famous historical Olympic ship and she never asked specifically on which part of the ship she would land on.

Splash of water and Anna’s thought she was drowning into the freezing ocean. She went into panic and painfully choked some water into the lung in the process.

But then Anna just suddenly noticed that the supposed freezing water was in fact very warm.

Anna snapped, got up and looked around, the water was surprisingly shallow.

She found herself in a bath tub, inside a luxurious-looking bathroom. She took a fast glance around, ignoring the running water tap beside her.

“You make quite an entrance, my dear.” A feminine voice came from behind.

Anna quickly turned her head around, taken by surprise when she spotted a naked woman behind her. She almost slipped and fell down hard on the slippery bath tub if it wasn’t for the other person who had grabbed her on last second.

Anna paid better attention on the woman in front of her. Her hair had different shade of red but the voice and the pair of golden eyes… Anna had remembered it from the previous jump.

Her palm stung a little, and it was enough for reminder about the dangerous woman in front of her.

“Idunn…” Even the Time was stilled on a fractured second when she whispered the name.

“It’s been a while, little one.”

.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's long overdue. I have been so productive last year (sarcasm). Anyway, thank you for sticking with this story.


	10. The Titanic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna felt a deja-vu witnessing the scene before her. Once again, she felt captivated by the sight. The auburn-haired vampire had sunk her teeth into the man's neck. Blood pouring like a small mountain, splashing the vampire's burgundy dress. The glint of moonlight was shining Idunn's golden eyes. Instead of calm and serenity, Anna saw a pure fury radiating from the elder vampire.

**"We love the things that destroy us, because in that destruction we truly feel alive."**   
**― Robert Pobi, Bloodman**

* * *

.

.

All trainings she had learned for this jump would never prepare her for this kind of encounter. The auburn-haired vampire appeared the same as her last jump, and supposedly the gap was centuries ago.

"Lost your tongue, little one? It's rude, you should do proper greeting to a lady." Idunn tsked as she graciously marveled around the bathroom to reach a towel. Anna couldn't hide her flustered face from the sight of Idun's naked state. She knew that vampires are beautiful creatures, but something was different with Idunn, and Anna couldn't put her finger on it.

As Idunn finished wrapping herself with a towel, she raised an eyebrow to her intruder. "You want to stay there forever, little one? Not that I would blame you, the bath is bliss."

Anna snapped from her trance and jumped out from the tube. Half of her shirt was soaked through but that was the least of her worries. She needed to get out. Anywhere but together with the dangerous vampire. As she prepared to make a bolt outside the room, Idunn's hand reached out to grab her.

Anna's panic level raised as the image of the villager's bloodless corpse came into her mind.

Idunn loosened her hold, noticing Anna's flinching body. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked curiously.

"… Out." To Elsa. She needed to find Elsa in this timeline. Elsa never failed her, no matter where or when.

"Sweetie, look out to the window." Idunn gestured to a small window in the room. "Do you plan to swim away?"

Through the pitch black scenery, Anna could make out the splash of stormy rain and the ocean waves. Of course she was supposed to jump on Titanic ship.

At the moment Idunn had released her hold on Anna. She walked to what appeared as a dresser and came back with some clothes. She laid out the fabrics on to a large bed in the middle of the room and started to strip again from her thin towel.

Anna automatically turned her head away and chose certain point on the wall as her new object of interest.

Amused with the teen's behavior that she caught through the mirror, Idunn preferred to dress with human speed to torture the poor girl who was standing awkwardly on the corner.

Anna could've gotten out anytime from that room while Idunn was changing. However it felt wrong to just dash out while Idunn's eyes kept watching her like a hawk.

Meanwhile Anna observed the things around the room, the room was designed for first class passenger. The bed, private bathroom with a big tube, and some antiques decoration on the wall which Anna guessed from Louis XVI periodic styles, had explained everything. Anna was curious about an old painting hung but to ask directly would be inappropriate. The older woman was centuries old vampire, surely she had the time to manage worldly luxuries.

Anna never noticed that the vampire in her mind was standing inches from her, observing her as if she had found interest in a new shiny thing. The time-traveler gasped and stumbled back when her eyes met with pair of dangerous golden ones. This time Idunn had a burgundy dress which oddly hugged the vampire figures perfectly. The gown was far from conservative, a popular concept in 19th century, instead the way the dress fitted should be categorized as shameless almost abominable. However, the dress would fit in perfectly on runway, which made her wonder where the vampire got idea for the fashion style. Anna made a mental note.

Idunn threw her a knowing smirk as she turned her back to reveal her unzipped dress.

"Do help me, would you?"

Anna did as she told, her finger had a brief contact on Idunn's cold skin.

"Thank you, little one. Now, why are you still standing there?" The auburn haired vampire gestured to the bed. There was still pair of clothes lying on it. "Go change."

Anna replied with a puzzled expression. On the bed was a white shirt, a pair of black pants, complete with suspender and a cap. Anna suddenly felt aware of her own soaked clothes.

Anna considered alternative to politely refuse the offer as she was reminded of Elsa's warning about Idunn's evil nature.

Silently watching the redhaired teen nervously fidgeting on her toes, Idunn made a distance between both of them. She tilted her head slightly, "I will be outside, I have a ball to attend. Don't catch a cold, little one. It's freezing out there" Idunn said while sashaying to the door.

Anna could hear the sound of the closing door and Idunn's muffled voice from outside, "call me if you need anything," after Idunn's clicking heels became distant, Anna finally could release her breath.

"phew, that was intense." Anna made a move toward the bed while Idunn had prepared her change of clothes. Her eyes squinted at the set of boy's clothing before her. Anything was better than her wet shirt right now. She couldn't possibly wander around the dock during winter while wearing soaked clothes, it would be suicide.

Downing her new attire, Anna took her time to assess her reflection on full-length body mirror in the room. With the boy's clothes, she looked like an errand boy from 19th century. The clothes were clean and made from good fabric, at least people would not mistaken her as worker boy from boiling room. Finally Anna put on the cap to hide her red-hair. Her hair always found a way to stand up anywhere. The clothes had fitted in perfectly on her and she wondered how Idunn got to know her size.

Anna stored that question for later since right now, she had to go to find Elsa.

* * *

.

Scouring the hall, Anna made conclusion that right now she was on upper level of the ship. Idunn had mentioned about a ball, so it meant that the first class dining room was near. A place of VIP passengers gathered and party.

Elsa had taught her to dance for a ball party, that was perhaps a hint that she could find her on the occasion. It was odd how the ball never got explained on any history book. Even in the movie, the wealthy passengers only using the room to dine and play poker.

Anna excitedly followed the ship direction which she had remembered perfectly on her brain since Rapunzel always insisted that at least she must remember the upper level blueprint first. Once she reached the famous grand staircase, the red-haired teen was astonished by the sight of beautiful dome above her. She knew that the dome was designed to give excellent illusion of natural light at any hour of the day, but somehow seeing it by her own eyes directly in its glory had amazed her more.

She spotted pairs of gentlemen and ladies who had dressed up for the occasion were descending the grand staircase toward the firs class lounge. By the look itself, Anna knew that they were very rich and important people.

Her step was halted as a hand grabbed a scruff of her neck from behind. "Where are you going, boy?" a deep hoarse voice rumbled from behind.

Anna rolled her eyes up to see a man on a black suit glaring at her with menacing green eyes. His feature was dark and a bit handsome. His blond hair had been slickly combed back, accentuating high cheekbones and crooked ears.

Anna's instinct flared as she struggled to release herself from the man's hold.

"This is not a kid's party, you silly boy." The man grinned, and Anna could see a flash of gold from one of his teeth. This man creeped her out so much.

"Hands off the boy this instant, doctor." A woman's voice that Anna knew came from behind the man.

As the man was a second late to register the woman's command, the woman's pale hand reached for his wrist which had been holding Anna's collar until now.

A little flick and the man cried out in pain.

The woman on a burgundy dress smirked with satisfaction. "In the near future, Dr Hyde, Do mind to never touch what is not yours."

The blond man was nursing his sore wrist as his grey eyes snapped to Idunn's face. "My apologies, Countess. I had no idea that the little boy is yours." He formed a smile, which in Anna's opinion made his feature scarier.

Idunn nodded a little, the man, as if taking cue from Idunn then scurried away toward the grand hall.

Anna had no chance to speak as Idunn turned her body around as doing careful inspection on her body. "A reminder, little one. That man is not the nicest man for a companion on this ship." Idunn said as she tucked in Anna's collar gently.

"I need to go there. I need to see someone." It was rather strange that she had been this long in this timeline and none of her three favorite vampires showed up yet.

"I wonder who you've been expecting, little one. Old rich folks are in that room, here I am planning to liven up the party." Idunn smirked as she led the way toward the grand hall.

Anna preferred to not answer that question. Until this point, Idunn had been civil toward her, but she had hurt her from the previous encounter. Beside, Anna could not fully erase the image of fateful night when the vampire had slaughtered a whole village.

Anna could never trust her.

As soon as they both stepped into the room, people's eyes suddenly turned toward them. Well, not exactly to Anna, but to the woman beside her. Even she could feel Idunn's strong aura which had stunned all occupants in the room. The party was lively, Anna could directly smelt alcohol and tobacco from around the room. The sickening sweet smells that coming from very women's perfume in the room was awfully mixed on the air.

Anna unconsciously stepped closer to the auburn haired vampire. Her smell had sweet vanilla fragrance which far better than others.

The elder vampire curled up a smile and once, people flocked around her like bees to honey.

"Do take a look around, Anna, perhaps you will find someone you want to see." Idunn whispered calmly before several gentlemen gathered and offered her to dance.

Anna didn't need to be told twice as she escaped the crowd and explore the party. Although once she left Idunn, her nose got assaulted by awful aroma again.

Instead of Elsa, her path was crossed with the creepy man from earlier. Anna recalled that Idunn had called him Dr Hyde.

He was looking at her like a lion stalking a prey from a far.

"Hello kid," Dr Hyde made a first greeting. Anna chose to ignore him and proceed her mission to find Elsa on the ship.

"That is rude, boy. Don't you turn away when adult is talking to you." His deep hoarse voice grunted from behind. This time, the man did not touch her but his voice itself had sent shiver course through her body.

Anna finally gave in and looked back toward the man.

A satisfied smirk painted his face, "what's your name, boy?"

Anna flinched a little when his hand moved to fix his sideways cap. "Don't worry boy, my hand is still sore from before. Countess Ilona surely has a very strong grip, don't you think?"

Countess Ilona… Anna stole a glance toward Idunn who was dancing with one of gentlemen from before.

"Here I am, been her acquaintance for years but she never mention of hiring any errand boy." The doctor followed Anna's gaze on Idunn's dancing figure. His pale green eyes were radiating calculating look and desire toward the auburn vampire which somehow had triggered Anna's annoyance. Anna couldn't describe it but his expression was sending very bad vibe all over the place.

"Stop looking at her like… that." Like a piece of meat. Anna bit her lip, just realized she had spoken the words out loud.

Dr Hyde switched his attention to the little boy beside him, giving her an amused smirk, "as you wish boy. You haven't answered me yet."

The man was annoying her enough. She needed to find Elsa right away, just give him answer that he needed then.

"Andre… my name is Andre. If you would be so kind to step away, sir? I need to go." Anna applauded herself to successfully hide her nerve from her voice.

Dr Hyde smiled and moved aside swiftly from Anna's path. "Nice to meet you, Andre. Hope I'll see you again." He said as he departed to the other side of the room.

Anna wished the man would be one of many who would sink with the ship later.

Giving up to search around for her favorite vampires on Grand Hall, Anna made her way outside the dock. The cold breeze assaulted her once she stepped out, she shivered a little before her gaze settled on the scenery ahead. Despite the chilly winter night, the full moon was shining brightly. It was odd that the ship could hit any iceberg with clear sight like this.

"Have you found the person you're looking for, little one?" Idunn asked softly. Anna startled for a brief second, never expecting the auburn haired vampire to join her outside.

"Not yet." Anna replied sadly, not bothering to turn her face toward Idunn. The elderly vampire on the other hand was watching the teen time-traveler with curious eyes.

"I heard your conversation with the Doctor."

"Your friend is a creep." Anna shrugged.

"I told you, he is not the nicest man." Idunn shook her head a little before continuing. "I do not have any friends, little one."

It had not escaped Idunn's observing eyes and ears, how the little girl confronted the Doctor about his pervert gaze. It had been the second time that as a little girl, Anna had defended her. The girl should have known better that she was the strongest and most merciless creature ever walked on this realm and yet… the girl was honorably cute.

This time Anna turned her head toward the vampire. The way of moonlight shone on pair of the woman's golden eyes reminded her from the fateful night. The night Idunn had slaughtered a whole village without blinking. Strangely though, Anna wasn't scared… she was fascinated of how different Idunn with vampires she had come to know.

"Why do you kill human?" Anna asked the question out of the blue.

"That is obvious, no? I need to survive. It's the same as humans eating meat and bread everyday. The one that sustains my existence is human blood."

"Is there any other way without killing though?"

Idunn smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way, little one. This is who I am. What I am. Although since a certain night, I never taste a drop of children's blood anymore. It's a shame, really. Those were the sweetest thing on earth."

Anna's jaw dropped. "You…"

"I keep my promise, little one. And don't push it." Idunn's light laugh chimed, astonishing even the night itself. "Now come before you human and your short life-span catch annoying illness."

Anna pouted, reluctant to go inside when her mission to find Elsa had yet accomplished. "I still need to continue my search."

Idunn halted her step, "looking for your important person?"

Anna nodded, "she always finds me no matter where I am. This time though, I'm going to find her myself."

Idunn tapped her chin, contemplating something before she spoke, "your person… are they perhaps as pale as I am?"

Anna's jaw dropped for second time. How could she know?

"We can feel each other's presence. I am very certain, the only predator on board on this ship is only me."

_What? No way!_

"That's impossible. She always finds me. Elsa always finds me no matter…."

Idunn's lips curled in distaste, catching the name Anna had uttered, her arms folded in front of her chest, looking down the confused time-traveler before her.

Idunn spat with lazy tone, "I can't believe I have to do slow explanation to you, little human."

The word had strucked something on Anna. Socializing with vampires, never ever she was called 'human' as if it was inferior being, an insult.

"I don't have time for you, I need to go find Elsa." Anna felt herself fuming. The vampire before her was evil and even though in this timeline she hadn't witnessed Idunn to devour anyone yet, the elder vampire was still the same like centuries ago. Narcissist and unbearably annoying.

"You are lying, little one. You do have all the time in this world." Idunn's eyes glinted under the dim ship lighting. "and you can't find that 'Elsa' here."

Anna's eyes narrowed, "what do you mean?"

"Do keep up, Anna. Your favorite vampire is not here on the ship and I am the only vampire here. Checkmate, little one."

.

* * *

Anna made escape toward the lower dock. She passed through the boat deck, a section of the ship that stored lifeboats. Anna made a brief stop to contemplate the irony of the unsinkable ship that had kept less lifeboats than the amount of passengers.

Until a rough hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, "Oi, I got one. This one is definitely rich!"

Anna turned around, she was faced with another boy, a bit taller than her, wearing smudged shirt and sporting messy dirty hair. She immediately shrugged the offending hand off her body and pushed the boy down.

"Whoa, little rich boy got some guts." The boy recovered after stumbling a little. After that, less than a minute, other 2 boys were joining him, trapping Anna from runaway further.

"I don't have time for this!" Anna groaned.

"Acting high and mighty eh, little sir? Why not entertain lowlife like us for a minute? Or you prefer to share one gold penny or two?"

Anna sighed, of course these little goons out to rob her.

Training with Merida had paid off. When one of the boys out to grab her, Anna ducked down and pushed the second boy toward his friend, made the two crumpled together on the wooden deck. The third boy who was angry then took a swipe for her nose which Anna successfully dodged followed by tackling the boy's ankle until he joined his friends on the floor.

"You boys have better luck to pickpocket than brawling with a little sir like me." Anna huffed and was about to leave them wailing when her body was lifted upward by a pair of muscular arms.

A smell of tobacco, cheap alcohol, and awful sweat immediately assaulted her nose. Anna struggled to escape from the strong hold only to get squeezed tighter.

"A little sir, eh? Tell me, how much one of those rich folks would pay for one little sir?"

Her attacker this time was an adult man, much taller and stronger than her. She was taken by surprise, she should've know that the three boys were too easy to deal with..

"I'm afraid you will get no pay at all. I'm just an errand boy."

One of the boys groaned, "the lass ain't worth a penny!"

"Shut it, Marco, at least he wears nice clothes. Strip him down and sell it, ain't that still good?" The second boy quipped.

Anna flinched, that was actually the worst idea. Why everybody out to get her anyway?

"I doubt he is just an errand boy." The man grunted and then roughly tossed Anna down to the ground. Anna winced when her elbow made contact with the floor but this time should be one moment for escape.

The man smiled a menacing smile, he caught Anna's collar before she could scrambled away. He pulled out the cap, allowing Anna's braid to fall down her shoulder. "nobody hires a little girl for an errand boy."

Oh crap.

The man's hand reached out for Anna's shirt buttons. Anna couldn't help but freaked out for what about to happen. The man's wild eyes and labored breath accompanied by strong grip that held her body… she turned to the other boys who were looking at each other in confused daze. Their guilty and pitiful look toward her state…

No.

"Stop struggling, girl. It would be over quick. I could teach you a thing or two." He cackled and started to undo Anna's buttons.

"Help…mmpph." His rough hand forcefully covered her mouth, his eyes were making silent threat under a moonlight. Anna's tears fell down… image of certain platinum blond vampire crossed her mind.

Elsa, help me.

Just as the man ripped off the rest of the buttons, Anna felt something landed heavily on the deck. In fact, the whole deck was shaking followed by the breeze of chill air.

It happened very quickly.

The three boys were the first to scurry away. But they didn't make it too far. They dropped one by one in less than a minute.

The man witnessed the scene, taking his time to register what was actually happening. The boys fell down and not moving afterward. Their faces were pale and all of their eyes were hollow and empty.

The boys were dead.

The man got up and made a run for it. Unfortunately, like the three boys, the man also could never get far.

Anna felt a  _deja-vu_  witnessing the scene before her. Once again, she felt captivated by the sight. The auburn-haired vampire had sunk her teeth into the man's neck. Blood pouring like a small mountain, splashing the vampire's burgundy dress. The glint of moonlight was shining Idunn's golden eyes. Instead of calm and serenity, Anna saw a pure fury radiating from the elder vampire.

The slaughter was messy and Anna could hear more than one crunch sound as Idunn moved to break each of the man's bone slowly. The sound made Anna involuntary flinch but she could not turn her eyes away.

After finishing with her prey, Idunn tossed the messy body of the man toward the ocean. Her golden eyes were still glinting dangerously and her fangs bore traces of crimson stain trailing down her chin and neck.

On the blink of eye, she was beside Anna, hissing angrily, "I told you… call my name!"

Anna winced turning away from the distorted sight of Idunn's angry face. She buried her face to her knees, relief, fear, and sadness overwhelming her at once.

Then the scent of sweet vanilla surrounded her, Anna could feel that Idunn was carrying her inside the ship. They stopped once they reached what it seemed as an empty library.

Idunn placed Anna on one of the couch before wrapping the girl with 2 layers of blanket. From the dimmed light of the room, Anna could still spot the angry feature and snarl from the other vampire.

"Stay here, little one." Idunn hissed the words. "I mean it when I said that you need to call my name."

A slam of wooden door and Anna was left alone inside the empty library.

Anna never felt like this. She was terribly missing Elsa and the others. They had lied to her. They weren't here. They were not waiting her in this ship and she was all alone.

Her tears came pouring out. The terrible memory from moments ago could not be erased from her mind. The past was horrifying and she could not wait any longer until she came back to the present timeline.

.

Few hours after midnight Anna heard the wooden door opened. Idunn came back with smell of iron and trail of blood all over her body.

Anna didn't dare to ask the vampire of who she had killed this time.

Seeing that Anna was still on the couch like before she had left her, the vampire positioned herself to sit on the other side. "You didn't call me." Idunn said. She flicked her auburn hair which was sticky because of the blood splatter. Anna spotted that the shade on Idunn's auburn hair was slightly lighter because of the blood.

The ship swayed a little with muffled of crashing sound.

"What was that?" Anna had a guess but she almost forgot about the iceberg crash and all of that.

"The ship will sink, I killed the captain." Idunn chuckled, "I had a big feast on the dining hall too."

_Wait, what?_

The ship swayed again and second crash followed.

"Your 'person' has come, finally." She smiled softly. Anna observed how Idunn walked toward her and double checked that the multiple blankets had secured around the teen's body. "Let's get outside, little one. It's time to leave this abominable ship, no?"

Once they stepped outside, Anna was greeted by a sight of an iceberg mountain surrounding the ship. People were running around, mostly toward the boat deck. The remaining crews were doing their best to calm the passengers in vain.

"Don't you wonder about why suddenly there is a gigantic iceberg in the middle of the ocean?" Idunn asked while her gaze fixing upward, right on top of the iceberg.

It was dark but Anna could see the shadow of platinum blond hair flashing and zooming toward them.

"Run, little one. This will get ugly." Idunn nudged the time-traveler to the direction of the hull. Anna was hesitant but the sea of incoming people had forced her away from Idunn.

Seconds later a great crash shook the fundamental of the ship like an explosion.

Anna was thrown, thankfully her arm had managed to grab one of the pole as the ship started to bend upward.

Anna still unable to process the situation which was currently unfolding… the iceberg was made by Elsa… Idunn had killed the entire main crew including the captain of the ship, and if Anna had heard it right, the red-haired vampire also had killed the first class passengers in the dining room too.

_Why? How?_

"Anna!"

Anna's head whirled around to the familiar voice. Belle was speeding and jumping the sea of people, defying gravity of the ship to reach her side.

Anna could not be happier to see the brunette vampire.

"Hold on." Belle shouted against the commotion around them. Her pale hands managed to break the pole Anna was holding and lifted the girl to her side. Impatiently, Anna jumped ahead to reach Belle. It took the woman by surprise but Belle had successfully secured the little teen around her arms.

"You are here! You are here!" Anna muttered happily. How she missed the nerdy vampire and the chocolate fragrance.

"I'm sorry we got hold up, Anna. Merida is here too, Elsa has been frantic to track down the titanic to get to you."

The ship cracked again, this time obviously that the body had split into half and the other half was starting to sink.

"Are you alright, Anna? Did that vampire hurt you?" Belle's eyes narrowed, no doubt to scan for any injury on their time-traveler.

"No… Idunn never hurt me."

By the mention of the name, again, something had shifted on the air which made even Belle flinch a little.

"You know her name?" Belle seemed shock by the fact but then she was distracted by the circumstances they were in right now.

"We need to get out first from here."

Meanwhile Anna was witnessing how people were struggling to save their lives from the sinking ship. The horror was much more terrible on the first place. Anna had been sad while watching the movie but right now, she couldn't even bear it while people were dying around them. The boats were never enough and no matter how, the history would still remain the same.

Understanding what was going on inside Anna's mind, Belle hugged Anna closer. She was carrying the girl so it would be easier for them to maneuver between people and ship's debris. "Don't look, Anna. It will be over soon." Belle said reassuringly.

The teen buried her face under the crook of Bella's shoulder. She felt weak and scared. This jump was more horrifying than the previous jumps because the thought of what could have happened. The image of Doctor Hyde and the rough man that had assaulted her came into surface again. Anna should've known better as Belle was capable to read her mind and how the brunette slightly stumbled on her steps after that.

Belle's eyes turned slightly darker and she quickened her paces. Her soft feature turned hard as Anna could see how Belle's jaw became still and her fangs made appearance.

"Belle?"

"I-" Belle bit her lips, "I can't talk right now, I'm sorry."

Belle surprised Anna when she jumped down into the ocean. The red-haired teen had expected for drowning into cold water but instead, Belle had landed gently on a floating motorboat.

Anna questioningly inspected the boat. How come a motorboat made appearance on 19th century?

Belle cleared her throat as if answering Anna's inner thought.

"Nice to see you, lass." Merida greeted her with her special trademark grin. Anna had missed that the most.

As Merida's arms suddenly full of one little time-traveler, Belle got up to jump back to the sinking ship. "I need to fetch Elsa, you two go ahead."

Merida raised an eyebrow, "sure you don't want to trade, luv?" normally Belle would take charge of Anna's well being, and rarely trust the job to anyone except Elsa.

"No, I need to do this myself."

Anna who had released from hugging Merida was right now looking at Belle with concern. Elsa was still confronting Idunn undoubtedly. If Belle came between the two vampires, big chance she would've gotten hurt. The brunette vampire wasn't the type for violent fights after all.

Of course Belle had noticed Anna's thoughts and given her reassuring smile.

After Belle took off toward the ship again, Merida tapped Anna's shoulder gently. "sit down, lass… hold on tight."

"Did Elsa do all of this?" Anna's gaze went to the gigantic sinking ship. "The iceberg and all…"

"I admit that we have gone overboard." Merida replied. "She was out of her mind when we knew that Idunn also boarded the ship. Your note came late in revise editorial, you know."

"So…" Something finally clicked inside her head. "It's all because of me?"

"No one will blame you lass. Even if you hadn't jumped on the ship, I'm sure it would still drown. Less violence, but still… drown."

"How?"

"That old vampire, Elsa's greatest enemy… she always brings destruction on her path. This time, we figured out that it is her mission to eliminate the whole ship. Only God knows why."

Anna stored that additional information inside her mind.

"We're sorry we're late, lass. From Belle's expression, was it very bad?"

Anna didn't answer the question. She noticed there was trail of path made of ice that ended around their boat.

_Elsa is coming._

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also published in fanfiction dot net under my other pen name 'Peaprince'


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